My road in life has taken me all over.
I’m a first-generation immigrant—I moved to the United States with my parents in 1966 after spending the first six years of my life traveling the world on my dad’s ship.
My parents worked hard so that I would be able to go to college—the first in my family to attend college, I was expected to either become a doctor or a lawyer.
My math grades weren’t promising for medical school, so I got my bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology from University of California, Santa Barbara.
I went to law school after undergrad because I had a passion for communication and a drive to learn about how power can be used for good.
After graduating, I was drawn to a big law firm because of my interest in litigation—I worked for O’Melveny & Myers for 30 years and loved it, but it was very taxing on my time and work-life balance.
I made a switch into education and worked as the executive vice chancellor, general counsel, and secretary to the board for the CSU system, leading a staff responsible for all legal services.
Now, I work as the president of California State University, Fullerton, where I’ve made it a goal to positively impact the students and then, indirectly, the city, county, state, and nation.
In addition to my work with CSUF, my wife and I formed a nonprofit to assist victims of genocide in Rwanda.
Keep following my journey