»Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs and General Counsel

Hima Vatti is the Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel at Chapman University. In this role, Hima is the chief legal adviser to the university and manages the Office of Legal Affairs. Hima collaborates with university leadership and stakeholders across academic, administrative and business operations to facilitate the university’s compliance with applicable laws, policies and processes, as well as to prevent and address legal risks and issues. 

Hima has served for nearly 20 years as a counsel and senior compliance administrator in nationally recognized higher education institutions, most recently as General Counsel at the University of La Verne. Hima spent 10 years at Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an Associate General Counsel and the Practice Group Lead for Litigation and Risk Management, and an additional five years as Caltech’s Assistant Vice President for Equity, Equity Investigations and Title IX Coordinator, managing compliance with federal and state anti-discrimination laws. She also served for three years as a senior research compliance administrator at Cornell University. 

Before entering higher education, Hima practiced as a litigation attorney in a national law firm and the U.S. Department of Justice. Hima earned a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA from Stanford University. She is a member of the National Association for College and University Attorneys.