UPCEA Updates

UPCEA joins colleagues, friends, and the broader higher education community in mourning the passing of Dr. Gary W. Matkin, a distinguished leader in online and professional continuing education whose nearly five decades of service shaped institutions, expanded access, and advanced innovation across the globe.

Dr. Matkin began his career with the University of California, Berkeley Extension in 1973, where he held a series of leadership roles focused on financial management, academic quality, and technology initiatives. In 2000, he joined the University of California, Irvine as Dean of the Division of Continuing Education, later also serving as Vice Provost of the Division of Career Pathways. Over the course of his tenure, he led a thriving continuing education enterprise serving tens of thousands of learners annually and helped integrate career services across the UCI campus.

Known as an innovative and forward-thinking leader, Dr. Matkin played a central role in advancing open educational resources, online learning, and alternative digital credentials. He helped develop initiatives that brought learning opportunities to millions of students and contributed significantly to national and international conversations about digital credentials and workforce-relevant education. His scholarship and writing, including foundational books on financial management in continuing education, provided practical guidance to generations of leaders in the field. His 1985 book, Effective Budgeting in Continuing Education, received an honorable mention for UPCEA’s Phillip E. Frandson Award for Literature in 1987, reflecting early recognition of his influence on the profession.

Dr. Matkin’s engagement with UPCEA spanned decades, beginning in the late 1980s. Over the course of his service, he contributed as both a volunteer leader and a thought partner to the association. He served on the association’s Board of Directors from 1998 to 2004 and held numerous volunteer leadership roles, serving on planning committees, advisory groups, and long-range planning efforts that helped shape the association’s direction.

A frequent and generous contributor to UPCEA conferences and professional development programs, Dr. Matkin shared his expertise through numerous presentations at events over the course of his career. His sessions on budgeting, financial management, online education strategy, partnerships, and institutional leadership helped equip peers to lead sustainable and forward-looking continuing education enterprises.

In recognition of his leadership and contributions to the field, Dr. Matkin received UPCEA’s Julius M. Nolte Award for Extraordinary Leadership in 2010. He served as a member of the 2015-16 Annual Conference Advisory Committee, and more recently as a Founding Faculty member of UPCEA’s online professional development program, and the course developer and instructor for Forecasting, Budgeting, and Managing Money in an Environment of Uncertainty and Risk. He also served as a Strategic Advisor for UPCEA Research and Consulting, lending his insight and experience to help other members.

Throughout his career, Dr. Matkin championed the idea that continuing education should be both mission-driven and financially sound. He believed institutions must operate with clarity, integrity, and adaptability in order to serve learners effectively. Those principles continue to guide leaders across the field.

Dr. Matkin retired from UC Irvine in 2022, concluding 49 years of service to the University of California. His legacy endures in the institutions he strengthened, the programs he built, the scholarship he contributed, and the countless colleagues and learners influenced by his work.

As we remember Dr. Gary Matkin, we honor a life defined by leadership, service, and an enduring commitment to expanding educational opportunity.