In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for current and prospective teachers in the city. Named after its principal, George W. Minns, the institution was formally established as the first California State Normal School by the State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School to San Jose, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall term of 1872. After a fire destroyed the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed in 1881, the building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and curriculum changes, Minns' Normal School is now San Jose State University, offering more than 134 bachelor's and master's degrees with 110 concentrations, and is recognized as one of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West.

Jon Whitmore served as the President of San José State University from 2008-2010. Prior to his appointment, he was president of Texas Tech University for five years, where he also held a professorship in theatre. From 1996 to 2003, he served as provost and professor of theatre arts at the University of Iowa, and was dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin from 1990 to 1996. Before that he served as dean, Faculty of Arts and Letters, and as a professor of theatre at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Whitmore was affiliated with West Virginia University from 1974 to 1985, where he served as interim dean for the College of Creative Arts, interim director of the Creative Arts Center, faculty member, and assistant to the president. He holds a doctoral degree in theatre history from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and master's and bachelor's degrees in speech from Washington State University. In September of 2010 Whitmore left SJSU to become C.E.O. of ACT, Inc., a college entrance-exam company.