Cal Poly Pomona President Bob Suzuki knows his campus better than the back of his hand.

It's a sizzling summer afternoon as he and his guests take a tour of the sprawling, 1,438-acre university in the comforts of Suzuki's gray minivan. With a hint of nostalgia, Suzuki tells the story of each academic building, research facility, student dormitory, library, campus garden, student center, maintenance facility, agricultural complex and historic building he drives by.

"This is a great place," he says as he finishes the tour at the steps of his home, the university Manor House. "Lots of wonderful people."

As Suzuki's remarkable 12-year presidency ends today, he looks back with fondness on thousands of memories built at a university, which many claim has been transformed under his leadership.

Suzuki will leave a lasting impression on Cal Poly Pomona, his colleagues say, from the relationships he has helped foster with the city of Pomona and national organizations like the Red Cross, to supervising an unprecedented $250 million in campus construction projects and shaping the polytechnic university into a renowned academic institution.

His life journey has included growing up in the rural northwest and Japanese internment camps during World War II, to the opportunities presented by outer space and later, education. Suzuki's unique experiences have molded him into who he is today: activist, community leader, author and educator.

A formidable beginning

Bob Hiro Suzuki was born on January 2, 1936, in Portland, Ore., to Japanese immigrant parents. Suzuki's father, Magoshiro, was a railroad foreman for SP&S Railroad Company. Suzuki's mother, Noriko Okawa, was a homemaker.

An idyllic life in rural Oregon abruptly changed when Suzuki's family, along with 120,000 other Japanese Americans, was imprisoned in an internment camp during World War II. Suzuki's family lived in crowded and horrid conditions at the Portland Livestock Pavilion, where they slept in 10-foot-by-10-foot animal stalls.

"The smell of the previous occupants was quite noticeable, especially in the heat of the summer," Suzuki said.

Suzuki, then 6, first learned English at the Portland Livestock Pavilion. He vividly recalls his schooling experience.

"I remember attending first grade in the bleachers of the rodeo stadium and seeing the entire pavilion surrounded by barbed wire fences and guarded by soldiers in watchtowers with rifles and machine guns," Suzuki said. "My father impressed upon me that it would be dangerous for me to go near the fence."

Eight months later, Suzuki's family was moved to permanent facilities in the deserts of southern Idaho, to an internment camp euphemistically called the Minadoka Assembly Center.

"The Minadoka internment camp consisted of single-wall, tar-papered barracks, each of which had about six "apartments,' around 20-foot-by-20-foot in size," Suzuki said. "Each apartment ... was devoid of furniture except for a small pot-belly stove and some army cots with straw-filled mattresses. With five of us living in such a small space, we had no privacy."

Under these harsh conditions, Suzuki spent two years learning English, nearly flunking first and second grades before making leaps academically. After the war, his family resettled in a rural community near Spokane, Wash., where Suzuki grew up and worked on the family farm.

The little boy who couldn't speak a word of English soared in high school, becoming student body president and class valedictorian at Otis Orchards High School in 1954.

Sky's the limit

In the fall of 1954, Suzuki entered the UC Berkeley and majored in mechanical engineering. While at Berkeley, Suzuki met his future wife, Agnes Hirano, a curious, bright-eyed sociology major from Honolulu, Hawaii.

History changed on Oct. 4, 1957, when the former Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik. The unlimited opportunities presented by outer space captivated Suzuki's imagination and quickly motivated him to become an aerospace engineer.

Suzuki received his undergraduate degree in 1960 and continued his studies at UC Berkeley, earning a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1962.

Life after UC Berkeley included two years as a research engineer for the Aerospace Division of the Boeing Company in Seattle, Wash., and returning to graduate school at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

In 1967, Suzuki completed his Ph.D. in Aeronautics at Caltech and later taught aerospace engineering for 4 1/2 years at the University of Southern California.

Champion of the underdog

While teaching at USC, Suzuki became deeply involved in public and community affairs, the anti-Vietnam War movement and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

Fueled by traumatic childhood memories of the internment camps and racial discrimination he experienced as a boy growing up in Spokane, Suzuki and his wife Agnes became tireless activists for social justice and community-building.

From 1967 to 1971, Suzuki became involved in numerous activities, including serving as chairman of the National Education Commission of the Japanese American Citizens League, becoming vice-chairman of the community advisory committee for the desegregation of Pasadena public schools, and helping to lead a nationwide campaign that led to the Congressional repeal of the Emergency Detention Act of 1950.

"As a result of these experiences, I think I have a much deeper empathy with those who suffer injustices and discrimination, and I have a strong proclivity to champion the underdog," Suzuki said. "These activities ultimately led me to my decision to switch my professional field from aerospace engineering to education because I believed education was a field that was more closely related to my social concerns."

From space to the classroom to the presidency

In 1971, Suzuki joined the faculty of the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He arrived in the fall to teach courses in science and math education, Asian American studies and urban education. Two months later, Suzuki was asked to take the position of assistant dean for administration in the School of Education.

"I never planned on it, but (my dean) asked me to do it, how could I refuse?" Suzuki said with a smile.

Suzuki quickly revealed his skill and talent as an education leader and moved on to become dean of Graduate Studies and Research at Cal State Los Angeles from 1981 to 1985, and vice president for Academic Affairs at Cal State Northridge from 1985 to 1991.

"My engineering background helped quite a lot," Suzuki said of the transition from rocket scientist to educator. "My combined experience in education and engineering has helped me to understand a wide array of backgrounds."

In 1991, Suzuki became the fourth president of Cal Poly Pomona. He also made CSU history by becoming the first Asian-American CSU president.

CSU Chancellor Charles Reed describes Suzuki as a tireless, visionary leader who has brought about many positive changes to the polytechnic university.

"He's brought great recognition and prestige to the CSU and to Cal Poly Pomona," Reed said. "He's upgraded the technology, he's built new facilities. When he has a vision, he could stick to a plan. He has been respected by his colleagues and he has improved the quality of education at Cal Poly Pomona."

Barbara Way, dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, was a professor of political science when she first met Suzuki in 1991. Over the past 12 years, Way said she has watched Suzuki grow into his presidency.

"When he came to us, he was recognized as a regional leader because of his activities within the CSU," Way said. "Now he's perceived as a national leader. He came in with the demeanor of a provost and now he's leaving with the demeanor of a president."

Suzuki's numerous contributions included his tireless work for student and faculty diversity, engaging the campus in community outreach, his commitment to raising funds for student scholarships, and shifting campus authority from the top to individual faculty and staff, Way said.

"He's very supportive and lets people figure out what to do with their jobs," Way said of Suzuki's management philosophy. "He wanted the faculty to come together and believe that they could do anything."

Suzuki said he is most proud of the creativity and innovation that has emerged as a result of major changes within the university's organizational culture.

"Without harnessing the creativity of people, you're not going to make progress," he said. "You have to empower people at all levels of the university. Then it can continue to move forward regardless of who the leader is."

Pomona Mayor Eddie Cortez said Suzuki's efforts to reach out to the surrounding community have strengthened the relationship between the city and the university.

"Before Suzuki, Cal Poly Pomona and the city of Pomona were two separate entities, but now the working relationship between them has made the two partners, rather than separate," Cortez said. "It's Cal Poly 'Pomona,' not just Cal Poly."

Shaping and transforming the university

Suzuki has left his fingerprint on Cal Poly Pomona, though the humble president would never admit it.

When Suzuki began his presidency, he faced many challenges. Suzuki realized the university didn't have a sense of empowerment to create change. He noticed it was behind other campuses in technology and infrastructure. The recession of the early '90s brought to his attention the importance of raising funds for buildings and programs.

Any one of these potential obstacles could overwhelm a new president. But rather than resisting them, Suzuki embraced change and welcomed the challenge.

During his tenure, Suzuki has raised more than $110 million from private-sector sources, including a record $14 million during the past year. Those funds have helped the university complete more than $250 million in new construction projects - an unprecedented building program and the largest in its history.

"The campus has changed a lot since I've been here," said 21-year-old student Uwaifo Obanor, who worked closely with Suzuki as president of Associated Students during the 2002-03 school year. "Even my father, who graduated in 1981, pointed out all the changes he has seen on campus. You can credit Dr. Suzuki with that."

Myriad construction projects have transformed the university into a cutting-edge, technologically innovative and forward-thinking educational institution.

Among the additions are the Rain Bird Biotrek Project, a $1 million research and educational facility that consists of a free-standing greenhouse and aquatic biology center; Innovation Village, a 65-acre science and technology park; a state-of-the-art engineering building; an expanded complex for The Collins School of Hospitality Management; the $25 million Bronco Student Center; and a 1.3-acre Japanese Garden that was the last project to be completed under Suzuki's presidency.

Another $400 million in construction projects over the next 6 to 8 years are in the works, according to Suzuki. They include a $32 million library expansion project, a parking structure, a building for the College of Business Administration and a $41.6 million Red Cross blood processing facility, which will be the largest in the nation.

"If I was five years younger, I would stay and watch those projects finish," the 67-year-old Suzuki said. "But unfortunately, you can't turn back the clock."

Walking toward the future

For Suzuki, retirement doesn't mean sitting idle. Though he officially retires today from his post as university president, Suzuki said he will still be affiliated with Cal Poly Pomona.

Suzuki and his wife Agnes have plans to spend three months in Vietnam, starting in March of next year, to work with two universities in Ho Chi Minh City. Suzuki said he will also be involved in a number of other activities, including serving on the California Student Aid Commission and the Board of Directors of the Pasadena Bioscience Center. He will also help raise money for the International Polytechnic High School at Cal Poly Pomona and work on improving K-12 science and math education.

"It's an area that is critical to the future of California if it is to continue as a world leader in high technology," Suzuki said.

Suzuki said he also looks forward to getting back to his writing, doing some traveling and spending more time with his family and grandchildren.

As former Fresno State administrator J. Michael Ortiz transitions into the presidency, Suzuki leaves behind a few nuggets of wisdom he has learned along the way.

"Pace yourself!" Suzuki said. "You have one of the toughest, most stressful jobs in our society because universities are notoriously one of the most difficult institutions to change. Yet, in this rapidly changing world, change will continue to be necessary and inevitable."