In celebration of their accomplishments in their respective fields and their service and support of the university, Cal State Fullerton isrecognizing five Distinguished Alumni on Feb. 28, as the 2026 CSUF Vision & Visionaries Award recipients.
For clinical psychologist Robin Holmes-Sullivan, the decision to attend Cal State Fullerton was driven primarily by where she wanted to play college basketball. The starting point guard dominated the court for the Titans while earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1986 and a master’s degree in experimental psychology in 1990.
After more than three decades in higher education, including leadership roles at the University of Oregon and within the University of California system, Holmes-Sullivan was named the 26th president of Lewis & Clark College in 2022. Additionally, she also maintains a private practice as a clinical psychologist.
For her commitment to higher education and her dedication to clinical psychology, Holmes-Sullivan has been named a 2026 CSUF Vision & Visionaries Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.
The daughter of a Marine based in El Toro, attending college was a foregone conclusion for Holmes-Sullivan; the only question was where. As a standout basketball player at El Toro High School, she was a highly sought-after recruit, and CSUF’s Division I program offered everything she was looking for, including a competitive conference, strong coaching staff and teammates, and a chance to play close to home.
During her time as a Titan, Holmes-Sullivan was a four-year captain. Although she was recruited as a shooting guard, she switched positions and started all four years at point guard, a transition that taught her valuable lessons in growth and maturity.
“I loved my experience at Fullerton, and I loved being a Titan,” Holmes-Sullivan said. “It was really such a transformational experience and pivotal in my own growth and development. I had a great time, and I was so glad that I chose to attend.”
In the classroom, Holmes-Sullivan had an interest in psychology from the start, inspired by a high school course and the movie “Sybil,” in which she was mesmerized by Joanne Woodward’s psychiatrist character. Instead of pursuing medical school, she found herself drawn to the educational opportunities that accompanied clinical psychology. Her experience at CSUF was everything she was looking for, both on and off the court.
“The academic experience was fantastic,” said Holmes-Sullivan of CSUF. “I had relationships with my professors. They helped me hone in to what I wanted to do and how I needed to get there. … Really solid faculty who were well-known in their fields and just good at what they did, including teaching.”
Knowing she needed a doctorate, Holmes-Sullivan first earned a master’s degree in experimental psychology at CSUF, which reinforced her desire to pursue clinical training and experience rather than research-focused studies.
“I had great professors who really took an interest in me, and that helped me as I started pursuing my graduate work,” Holmes-Sullivan said. “They were pivotal in that, so it was a fantastic experience. If I had to do it all over, I’d pick Fullerton again.”
Holmes-Sullivan then went on to the California School of Professional Psychology, a nontraditional path for earning her doctorate that provided the training and fit she was looking for.
“It was one of those life lessons where you have to think through about what’s best for you, not necessarily what people tell you to do or what society tells you to do, and make your best choices,” Holmes-Sullivan said.
After completing her doctoral coursework, Holmes-Sullivan interned at a UC Davis counseling center, where she discovered a passion for providing mental health services to college students. She then worked at the University of Oregon for 25 years, joining as a staff psychologist, quickly becoming counseling center director, and later serving 10 years as vice president of student affairs.
In her next move, Holmes Sullivan returned to California to serve three years as vice president for student affairs for the 10-campus UC system. Missing campus life, and in a move that surprised many, she moved back to Oregon to take the same post at Lewis & Clark College, a small liberal arts school. In 2022, she was appointed president and became the first woman and person of color to lead the 156-year-old institution.
“Just because something might not look traditional or like the expected path, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t the right path for you,” Holmes-Sullivan said. “This was absolutely the right decision for me to be at an institution where I could have much more engaged interactions with folks in a smaller environment and learn about the liberal arts and their role in American education.”
munity is what it meant to me … To feel like you belong to something is just incredible.”Holmes-Sullivan feels honored to be recognized alongside other CSUF Vision & Visionaries Award recipients. She believes her time at CSUF prepared her in multiple ways for her career journey, and she is grateful for that experience.
“I’m just really proud to be known as a Titan,” Holmes-Sullivan said. “Part of something that was quality, that was solidly grounded in really good values and where people cared about you. It was my home … and so community is what it meant to me … To feel like you belong to something is just incredible.”