President Jeffrey D. Armstrong

Jeffrey D. Armstrong began his tenure as Cal Poly's ninth permanent president on February 1, 2011. President Armstrong’s unrelenting focus on student success and enhancing the university’s renowned Learn by Doing teaching approach has led to Cal Poly’s ranking as the best overall (among both public and private institutions) master’s-level university in the West for the last two years and maintained a 32-year run as the best overall public master’s-level university in the West according to U.S. News and World Report. In addition, demand for a Cal Poly education has risen to historic levels, with more than 80,000 applications for fall of 2024.

Among President Armstrong’s key accomplishments, are:

• Developing Vision 2022, a comprehensive evergreen strategy for Cal Poly that outlined the long-term goals of the institution and created a campus strategic plan and unified vision for the university’s future.
• Implementing an innovative financial-aid program that created a wider representation of income backgrounds at Cal Poly by providing an additional $34 million per year in financial aid to low-income California students.
• Establishing plans to significantly grow Cal Poly’s enrollment capacity to help keep pace with the university’s unpreceded levels of applications through a year-round operations model, with a goal of expanding enrollment to 30,000 students within 10 years. 

Under President Armstrong’s leadership, Cal Poly has also been recognized as a leader in higher education for return on investment (the cost of a degree compared to earnings) and seen significant increases in graduation and retention rates. Further, more than 90 percent of Cal Poly graduates are employed or in graduate school within nine months of graduation.

President Armstrong also currently serves as vice chair of the Business Higher Education Forum (BHEF) executive committee, where he works with a dedicated coalition of senior business and higher education executives committed to advancing innovative solutions to U.S. education and workforce challenges.

Prior to joining Cal Poly, Dr. Armstrong served as dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and professor of Animal Science at Michigan State University (MSU). He was also head of the Department of Animal Sciences at Purdue University from 1997 to 2001 and served in various positions at North Carolina State University (NCSU) from 1986 through 1997.

As a faculty member at NCSU, Dr. Armstrong was known for engaging students in the classroom and was awarded numerous honors for his teaching excellence. He also was named Alumni Distinguished Professor for Undergraduate Teaching.

A recognized leader in nutrition and reproduction in large food animals, Dr. Armstrong has helped raise more than $9 million in grants and cooperative agreements to support research on social responsibility in the food chain. He has written or contributed to more than 45 scientific journal articles.

Over his career, Dr. Armstrong has served as chairman of the United Egg Producers Animal Welfare Advisory Committee and advised McDonald's Corp. on animal welfare and broader issues related to corporate social responsibility. He served as chairman of the Michigan Board of Agriculture Assembly Farm Bill Committee and, in 2009, contributed to significant changes in Congress' farm legislation. Dr. Armstrong also served on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Committee and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Seventh District Advisory Council.

Raised on a beef cattle, swine and tobacco farm in Western Kentucky, Dr. Armstrong attended Murray State University as a first-generation college student, earning a bachelor's degree in agriculture in 1981. He earned both a master's (1984) and doctorate (1986) in physiology from North Carolina State University.

Dr. Armstrong and his wife, Sharon, have two children who currently reside in Michigan. Their son, Zack, is a financial advisor and their daughter, Jessica, married to Dean Gibbie, is a physician in obstetrics and gynecology. The Armstrongs are the proud grandparents of Colton and Carter.