Introducing President Poon

Brief Introductory Script for Internal Events
Thomas Poon serves as the seventeenth president of Loyola Marymount University, a leading Catholic research university rooted in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions. Under his leadership, LMU is advancing academic excellence, expanding access and opportunity, and strengthening its impact in Los Angeles and around the world. Please join me in welcoming President Poon to the podium.

Abridged Introductory Script for Internal or External Events
I am pleased to introduce President Thomas Poon. Under his leadership, LMU is shaping a future defined by innovation, purpose, and global impact.

Since joining LMU in 2017 as executive vice president and provost, President Poon has led transformative growth in academic distinction and research capacity, including the launch of 21 new academic programs, an 80 percent increase in faculty research support, and historic federal recognition as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander–Serving Institution, and state recognition as a Black-Serving Institution.

A scholar of chemistry and Jesuit higher education, President Poon previously held concurrent tenured professorships at three different Claremont Colleges and served as interim president of Pitzer College.

As LMU’s president, he is focused on expanding access and affordability, strengthening partnerships across Los Angeles and the global Church, and forming leaders through Ignatian excellence, rooted in intellectual rigor, discernment, and service.

Please join me in welcoming President Thomas Poon.

Full Biography for Printed Materials
Thomas Poon is the seventeenth president of Loyola Marymount University, a leading Catholic research university in Los Angeles grounded in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions. Under his leadership, LMU is advancing as a nationally recognized institution defined by innovation, access, and global engagement.

Since joining LMU as executive vice president and provost in 2017, President Poon has led transformative growth in academic distinction and research capacity. The university launched 21 new academic programs, increased support for faculty research and creative activity by more than 80 percent, earned a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa after its first application in institutional history, and achieved Carnegie’s R2 doctoral research classification. Under his leadership, LMU secured federal recognition as both a Hispanic-Serving Institution and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, along with designation from the State of California as a Black-Serving Institution.

As president, he has articulated a vision centered on expanding access and affordability, strengthening partnerships across Los Angeles and the global Church, and forming leaders through Ignatian excellence rooted in intellectual rigor, discernment, and service.

A graduate of Fairfield University with a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from UCLA, President Poon was a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Scholar at Colby College and held concurrent tenured professorships at Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges. He later served as interim president of Pitzer College. A scholar of both chemistry and Jesuit higher education, he has authored or co-authored multiple books and peer-reviewed publications and has secured competitive federal research funding. He has served as commissioner for the American Council on Education’s Commission on Internationalization and Global Engagement, chaired the Chief Academic Officers Council of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies.