The Hanford City Council, on Oct. 21, honored President Joseph I. Castro with a proclamation on the steps in front of the Civic Auditorium in Hanford.

City leaders celebrated his selection as the next chancellor of the 23-campus California State University system — the nation’s largest system of four-year higher education — with a banner across Main Street on that day.

Castro, who was born and raised in Hanford, has served as president of Fresno State since 2013, the first Valley native to do so. He will begin his duties as chancellor on Jan. 4, succeeding Timothy P. White, who is retiring after leading the CSU since 2012.

Castro graduated from Hanford High School in 1984, where he was editor of the school newspaper and played varsity tennis. He and his wife, Mary Castro, a native of Laton, met in 1985 when they both worked at the Hanford Burger King.

A 2013 article in Fresno State Magazine followed Castro and his wife on a trip back to Hanford after his first week on the job as president of Fresno State.