History
CLU was founded in 1959 as California Lutheran College (the name was changed to University in 1986) on farmland donated by the Pederson family, who were among many Scandinavian immigrants populating the hills of Thousand Oaks. The Scandinavian influence has stayed with the school since its founding. Every spring, a cultural festival is held on campus to celebrate the Scandinavian heritage of the school and the Conejo Valley. Many buildings on campus and streets in the area are named for prominent Scandinavians who helped establish CLU.
Orville Dahl, Ed. D. was the first president of the College from 1959–1962. Dahl had many ambitious dreams for what the college was to become. He originally thought that the Pederson and Thompson dormitories would be hotels for on campus guests and families of students. These residence halls are still in use for present day freshmen. Dahl had dreamed of developing a North campus near Mount Clef. He also brought the university's first football coach, Robert Shoup, to the campus in 1962. Shoup used an orange orchard for football practice and used the local high school stadium for home games for the first two seasons. He won 13 NAIA District 3 Championships in 17 years. The Kingsmen appeared in the playoffs five times, winning the NAIA National Championship in 1971. He was named NAIA Coach of the Year in 1971.
In 2010, California Lutheran University was ranked 18th among Regional Universities in the West by U.S. News & World Report.
Chris Kimball, Ph.D., became the seventh President of California Lutheran University in April 2008 and was officially inaugurated into that position on April 26, 2009. Dr. Kimball became President after serving as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Recently Dr. Kimball has interviewed with En.joy about the current direction of the university.
In October 2011, the Huffington Post Los Angeles said in an article that economists on staff at the University's Center for Economic Research and Forecasting thought that the state of California was becoming a "post-industrialized" state, according to the director of the center, Bill Watkins.
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