Although filling the role of acting president of the university for just nine months (Dec. 1959 to Sept. 1960), Richardson laid the groundwork for the future recruitment and appointment of well-credentialed research science faculty.

The next three presidents—Harry K. Newburn (1969–71), John W. Schwada (1971–81) and J. Russell Nelson (1981–89), including and Interim President Richard Peck (1989)—led the university to increased academic stature, the establishment of the ASU West Valley campus in 1984 and its subsequent construction in 1986, a focus on computer-assisted learning and research, and rising enrollment.

Part of Coor's legacy to the university was a successful fundraising campaign: through private donations, more than $500 million was invested in areas that would significantly impact the future of ASU.

[8] Crow initiated the idea of transforming ASU into "One university in many places"—a single institution comprising several campuses, sharing students, faculty, staff and accreditation.

Subsequent reorganizations[24] combined academic departments, consolidated colleges and schools, and reduced staff and administration as the university expanded its West Valley and Polytechnic campuses.

The university established learning centers throughout the state, including the ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City and programs in Thatcher, Yuma, and Tucson.

In response to these cuts, ASU capped enrollment, closed some four dozen academic programs, combined academic departments, consolidated colleges and schools, and reduced university faculty, staff and administrators;[28] with an economic recovery underway in 2011, however, the university continued its campaign to expand the West Valley and Polytechnic Campuses,[29] and establish a low-cost, teaching-focused extension campus in Lake Havasu City.

[50] The West Valley campus is focused on interdisciplinary degrees and the liberal arts, while maintaining professional programs with a direct impact on the community and society.

[3] The campus is considered to range from the streets Rural Road on the east to Mill Avenue on the west, and Apache Boulevard on the south to Rio Salado Parkway on the north.

[58] Against the northwest edge of campus is the Mill Avenue district (part of downtown Tempe), which has a college atmosphere that attracts many students to its restaurants and bars.

[38] In response to demands for lower-cost public higher education in Arizona, ASU developed the small, undergraduate-only college in Lake Havasu City.

[30] The Lake Havasu City campus offers undergraduate degrees at lower tuition rates than other Arizona research universities[71] and a 15-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio.

[81] Following a nearly 15-year presence in Washington, D.C., through more minor means, ASU opened the Barrett and O'Connor Center in 2018 to solidify the university's contacts with the capital city.

In addition to hosting classes and internships on-site, special lectures and seminars taught from the Barrett & O'Connor Washington Center are connected to classrooms in Arizona through video-conferencing technology.

The Biodesign Institute for instance, conducts research on issues such as biomedical and health care outcomes as part of a collaboration with Mayo Clinic to diagnose and treat diseases.

[154] ASU Professor Donald Johanson, who discovered the 3.18 million year old fossil hominid Lucy (Australopithecus) in Ethiopia, established the Institute of Human Origins (IHO) in 1981.

[158] The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability is the center of ASU's initiatives focusing on practical solutions to environmental, economic, and social challenges.

To meet the needs of NASA programs, ASU built the LEED Gold Certified, 298,000-square-foot Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV (ISTB 4) at a cost of $110 million in 2012.

[183] Additionally, six wind turbines installed on the roof of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability building on the Tempe campus have operated since October 2008.

CISA faculty at the Polytechnic campus in disciplines such as applied biological sciences, and technical communication and user experience, are involved in research and community outreach to promote sustainable use of resources and preservation of species and habitat.

The Devil Walk is held in Wells Fargo Arena by the football team and involves a more formal introduction of the players to the community; a new approach to the tradition added in 2012 with the arrival of head coach Todd Graham.

[238] ASU also plans to expand its athletic facilities with a public-private investment strategy to create an amateur sports district that can accommodate the Pan American Games and operate as an Olympic Training Center.

Alumnus Kevin Warren is the COO of the Minnesota Vikings, and the highest ranking African-American executive working on the business side of an NFL team.

[251] Many world renowned athletes have attended the school, including Silver Star recipient Pat Tillman, who left his National Football League career to enlist in the United States Army in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

ASU alumni enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame include: Curley Culp, Mike Haynes, John Henry Johnson, Randall McDaniel, and Charley Taylor.

Other notable athletes that attended ASU are: Major League Baseball All-Stars Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, Sal Bando, and Paul Lo Duca; National Basketball Association All-Stars Lionel Hollins and Fat Lever, and NBA All-Star coach Byron Scott; National Football League Pro Bowl selections Jake Plummer and Danny White; 2021 U.S. Open champion golfer Jon Rahm and three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmers Melissa Belote and Jan Henne, and two-time Olympian and double-Olympic gold medalist Megan Jendrick.

Conservative author, commentator, and popular historian Larry Schweikart, known nationally for writing the New York Times bestseller A Patriot's History of the United States, attended ASU for his bachelor's and master's degrees.

ASU faculty have included former CNN host Aaron Brown, Academic Claude Olney, meta-analysis developer Gene V. Glass, feminist and author Gloria Feldt, physicist Paul Davies, and Pulitzer Prize winner and The Ants coauthor Bert Hölldobler.

Donald Johanson, who discovered the 3.18 million year old fossil hominid Lucy (Australopithecus) in Ethiopia, is also a professor, as well as George Poste, Chief Scientist for the Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative.

[256] President Jimmy Carter visited Arizona PBS at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication on July 31, 2015, to promote a memoir.