UC Riverside Chancellor Timothy P. White has been named the newest chancellor of the California State University System.

Charles B. Reed officially announced his retirement earlier this year in May after 14 years of service.

“I am humbled to have been chosen to lead the California State University system at such a transformative time,” White said in a news release. “I look forward to engaging with faculty, students, staff, campus presidents and CSU trustees, along with the communities we serve, as we advance this vital system of higher education for California’s future.”

White immigrated to Northern California from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Being a first-generation college student, White has matriculated within both the CSU and UC systems. His academic background includes physiology, kinesiology and human biodynamics.

He earned his bachelor’s degree at Fresno State University and Cal State Hayward, which is now called Cal State East Bay, and earned his doctorate at UC Berkeley.

“I’m looking forward to working with him,” said University President Leslie E. Wong. “He has a stellar reputation and I think he wanted to make sure people understood that he’s a student kind of guy. He’s going to talk to people around him and be a defender of the CSU system.”

CSU spokesman Erik Fallis shares Wong’s optimism about White.

“I think he is going to be an incredible chancellor for our system,” Fallis said. “The UC campus he heads is the most similar to the CSU system.”

White is expected to receive the same salary as Reed: $421,500 plus a $30,000 supplement from CSU foundation sources and a standard benefits package, according to the Washington Post.

Ellie Loarca contributed to this report.