Sonoma State provost to speak

Eduardo Ochoa rounds out the presidential candidate forums

By: Tommy Wright

Posted: 5/8/08

Eduardo Ochoa is the only SJSU presidential candidate out of the three finalists with experience in the California State University system. He currently serves as provost and vice president of academic affairs at Sonoma State University.

Sonoma State President Ruben Arminana said Ochoa is "very dependable."

"He is a good academic leader who is very committed to the mission of the CSU of access, excellence and affordability," Arminana said. "He is a very bright and thoughtful individual who is highly analytical and works very hard."

Arminana, who is also a member of the Advisory Committee for the Selection of the President, said he has enjoyed his frequent conversations with Ochoa on topics ranging from academic values and politics to film and food.

At Sonoma State, Ochoa has been an active member of the CSU system's Academic Council, according to his curriculum vitae. He was also a part of an ongoing effort to reform the general education program at the university.

Ochoa's CSU experiences go back long before he started at Sonoma State in 2003. Ochoa was the dean of the College of Business Administration at Cal Poly Pomona before he moved to Sonoma State.

Stanley Abraham, a professor in the College of Business Administration at Cal Poly Pomona, worked with Ochoa while he was at the university.

"I thought he was very personable, very organized," Abraham said. "He tried to keep the college moving in the right direction."

Abraham also said that Ochoa encouraged international programs at the university.

According to his curriculum vitae, Ochoa developed academic and exchange programs in London; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Blumenau, Brazil.

Ochoa also spent time at Cal State Los Angeles and Fresno State. He was a lecturer at Fresno State. At Cal State Los Angeles, Ochoa was a professor in the department of economics and statistics. He received a Faculty Enrichment Award at the university in 1985, according to the curriculum vitae. He later became the chair of the department and served as the acting dean of the School of Business and Economics from 1996 to 1997.

Before his time in the CSU system, Ochoa was an instructor the State University of New York, College at Old Westbury. He has also worked as a consultant and an engineer.

Click here for live coverage of Ochoa's visit

Click here to see Ochoa's profile.