Cal Poly Pomona President Dr. J. Michael Ortiz

Dr. J. Michael Ortiz became Cal Poly Pomona’s fifth president on Aug. 1, 2003. For more than 25 years, Ortiz has dedicated his life to advancing education.

Since joining Cal Poly Pomona, Ortiz has actively championed the university as well as broader issues impacting higher education.

A national expert on education, Ortiz was named to the Commission on No Child Left Behind in 2006. The commission -- comprising a cross section of America's key stakeholders -- conducted a high level, independent and bipartisan analysis of No Child Left Behind before it was reauthorized in 2007. That same year, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Ortiz to the California Student Aid Commission, which administers more than $2.4 billion in grants and loans.

Ortiz has also been deeply involved with the American Association for Higher Education, a non-profit organization dedicated to building human capital for higher education. Ortiz chaired the board from 2005-2006, then took on the role of immediate past chair and chair of the nominating committee from 2006-2007.

Ortiz's career in higher education began in 1972 at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina where he was a full-time faculty member. He became professor of special education in the department of language, reading and exceptionalities in 1981, and was quickly promoted to department chair from 1982 to 1985, and director of the Office of Extension Instruction from 1985 to 1990. He then took the post of dean of continuing education and director of summer school at the University of Southern Colorado for three years before he was named associate provost and interim provost.

Ortiz earned his baccalaureate and master's degrees in 1970 and 1971, respectively, at the University of New Mexico. After earning his doctorate in early childhood special education at the University of North Carolina in 1981, he did postdoctoral work at Harvard University. Ortiz was a special adviser to the President's Committee on Mental Retardation in 1974. He serves as a consultant for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and recently completed a term on the board of directors of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education.

His commitment to higher education has earned him numerous honors including the Vanguard Award, the Inland Empire Hispanic Image award, KCET's Local Hero of the Year Award, and a place on the “100 most influential Hispanics” list in Hispanic Business magazine.

For more information, visit http://www.csupomona.edu/~president/bio.shtml.