Dr. Kate McCarthy is Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education and Academic Success at California State University, Chico.  Prior to her present position, she has served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Comparative Religion and Humanities and Interim Director of Faculty Development.   

In her current role, she chairs the campus Graduation Initiative team and oversees the First-Year Experience program, the Honors program, the Office of Civic Engagement, and the Chico Student Success Center.  She is Co-Director of the Adelante Post-baccalaureate Pipeline Program, funded by a five-year, $2.9 million “Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions” grant from the Department of Education.   

Her own research is in the area of interreligious relations.  In addition to numerous journal articles and book chapters, McCarthy is the author of Interfaith Encounters in America (Rutgers University Press, 2007) and co-editor with Eric Mazur of God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture (Routledge, 2010).  She holds a BA in Religion and English from Colgate University, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley.