Like many California State University students, Eduardo M. Ochoa’s parents immigrated to the United States in search of a better life for their children. When Ochoa was a teenager, they moved from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Portland, Oregon.
“We still stand on the shoulders of our ancestors,” Ochoa told Monterey County Weekly in 2013. “My parents came here to give us a better life, and I’m reaping the benefits. I hope to share this with my children and other immigrant children who are just beginning the climb.
It’s a desire that has guided him throughout his nearly four decades in higher education and with CSU. Ochoa retired in August 2022 after 10 years as CSUMB President.
His career began at Fresno State, where he taught full-time for three years while completing his doctoral dissertation. Ochoa holds a doctorate in economics from the New School for Social Research in New York and a master’s degree in nuclear science and engineering from Columbia University. He received his undergraduate degree in philosophy and physics from Reed College in Portland.
After Fresno State, Ochoa went to Cal State LA and served as department chair, associate dean, and acting dean of the College of Business and Economics for 13 years. Then he spent six years at Cal Poly Pomona as dean of the business school. Then Sonoma State hired him as provost and vice president academic. He remained in this role for seven years.
Read more in the Monterey Bay Magazine.
