David Alan Sapp
Professor Loyola Marymount University
Biography
David Alan Sapp, Ph.D., Professor of Educational Leadership, recently completed a decade of service in the Provost’s Office at Loyola Marymount University and is currently on sabbatical until August 15, 2028.
Since his arrival in 2015, Dr. Sapp has served as LMU’s Vice Provost for Academic Administration (2024 to 2026), Dean of Graduate Education (2020 to 2024), Vice Provost for Academic Affairs (2018 to 2024), Special Assistant to the Provost for Undergraduate Education (2016 to 2018), and as a member of the State Superintendent’s Task Force on College Affordability for the California Department of Education. Dr. Sapp has led matters vital to the success of LMU’s undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education divisions (e.g., faculty shared governance, accreditation, strategic planning, interfaith dialogue, and support for NCAA D1 athletes). In 2026, he received the Chilingar Distinguished Service Award for engagement with LMU’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps detachment.
Dr. Sapp has secured $15M+ in external funding through federal, state, foundation, and corporate grants, recently focused on workforce training programs. Populations served include honorably discharged U.S. military veterans recovering from addiction, justice-impacted and formerly incarcerated women seeking job placements, housing insecure young adults recently “aged out” of the foster care system, and college students with learning differences. In past years, Dr. Sapp has taught grant-writing courses to undergraduate students using a service-learning model and apprenticeships in not-for-profit and charitable organizations of the students’ choosing.
From 2001 to 2015, Dr. Sapp served Fairfield University as Professor of English and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. He earned his Ph.D. at New Mexico State University and is a graduate of the Institute for Educational Management in the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Dr. Sapp is also a member of The Phi Beta Kappa Society, Alpha Sigma Nu, Kappa Delta Pi, Omicron Delta Kappa, and a recipient of a Fulbright grant for research at the Universidad del Norte in Colombia.
Dr. Sapp has conducted fieldwork on the U.S.-Mexico border, in Brazil, Spain, and Uruguay. His research dissemination includes 50+ refereed articles and chapters, books published by Johns Hopkins Press and St. Martin’s Press, and a special issue of the Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization.
Since his arrival in 2015, Dr. Sapp has served as LMU’s Vice Provost for Academic Administration (2024 to 2026), Dean of Graduate Education (2020 to 2024), Vice Provost for Academic Affairs (2018 to 2024), Special Assistant to the Provost for Undergraduate Education (2016 to 2018), and as a member of the State Superintendent’s Task Force on College Affordability for the California Department of Education. Dr. Sapp has led matters vital to the success of LMU’s undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education divisions (e.g., faculty shared governance, accreditation, strategic planning, interfaith dialogue, and support for NCAA D1 athletes). In 2026, he received the Chilingar Distinguished Service Award for engagement with LMU’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps detachment.
Dr. Sapp has secured $15M+ in external funding through federal, state, foundation, and corporate grants, recently focused on workforce training programs. Populations served include honorably discharged U.S. military veterans recovering from addiction, justice-impacted and formerly incarcerated women seeking job placements, housing insecure young adults recently “aged out” of the foster care system, and college students with learning differences. In past years, Dr. Sapp has taught grant-writing courses to undergraduate students using a service-learning model and apprenticeships in not-for-profit and charitable organizations of the students’ choosing.
From 2001 to 2015, Dr. Sapp served Fairfield University as Professor of English and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. He earned his Ph.D. at New Mexico State University and is a graduate of the Institute for Educational Management in the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Dr. Sapp is also a member of The Phi Beta Kappa Society, Alpha Sigma Nu, Kappa Delta Pi, Omicron Delta Kappa, and a recipient of a Fulbright grant for research at the Universidad del Norte in Colombia.
Dr. Sapp has conducted fieldwork on the U.S.-Mexico border, in Brazil, Spain, and Uruguay. His research dissemination includes 50+ refereed articles and chapters, books published by Johns Hopkins Press and St. Martin’s Press, and a special issue of the Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization.
Education
New Mexico State University
PhD
English
2001
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
MA
English
1996
University of Minnesota
BA
English
1992
Areas of Expertise
Administration and Leadership in Higher Education
Technical and Scientific Communication
Research Methodologies
Grant Writing for Higher Education and Non Profit
International and Global Education
