California State University, Northridge

For nearly 60 years, California State University, Northridge, its students, faculty and alumni have played a critical role in the economic development of the greater Los Angeles region.

The university’s leadership and contributions to the community are being recognized next month by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), which is presenting CSUN with a 2015 Eddy Award. The award honors those who have played leading roles in the development of the county’s economy and in the creation of well-paying jobs for its residents.

The other recipients of a 2015 Eddy Award are Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and Los Angeles-based CBRE Group, Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm. The awards will be formally presented at a gala celebration on Nov. 12 at the Beverly Hilton.

“As the third-largest university in California, CSUN is a catalytic hub of education, research and innovation — playing a critical role in the economic development of the region,” said CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison. “Working collaboratively with LAEDC and public- and private-sector partners, CSUN positively impacts nearly every aspect of life in our community. We, at the university, are honored to be recognized for doing something that is such an integral part of who we are — elevating the social, cultural and economic well-being of Los Angeles.”

Only three other Los Angeles-area institutions of higher education have received an Eddy Award. The others are the California Institute of Technology, University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles.

In announcing the honor, LAEDC officials noted that CSUN is the largest of the five California State University campuses in Los Angeles County and is “fundamental to the economic prosperity of the region.”

CSUN serves a diverse student body of more than 40,000 students. It has been ranked in the top five nationally by EdSmart.org for advancing U.S. economic progress and by the National Science Foundation for graduates who go on to earn doctorates in the sciences. CSUN-related expenditures generated an estimated $1.9 billion in output throughout California. Of this $1.9 billion in output, approximately $1.6 billion occurred within Los Angeles County, helping to sustain nearly 12,000 jobs. CSUN has more than 300,000 alumni, 80 percent of whom live and work in Southern California.

The university’s partnerships in the community include one with L.A. Cleantech Incubator to foster entrepreneurship, business formation and job creation in a growing and socially valuable sector. CSUN also has joined forces with its five regional sister institutions as the “CSU5,” to advance regional education, research and workforce development.

The Eddy Awards® were introduced by LAEDC in 1996 to celebrate individuals and organizations that demonstrate exceptional contributions to positive economic development in the region, consistent with LAEDC’s focus on increasing shared prosperity for residents and communities of our region. As the Southern California region’s premier economic development organization, the LAEDC provides economic development leadership to promote a globally competitive, prosperous and growing L.A. County economy to improve the health and wellbeing of residents and communities, and enables those residents to meet their basic human need for a job.

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