Adela de la Torre was appointed the ninth president of San Diego State in January 2018, following a distinguished career of more than three decades as an accomplished economist, public-health researcher and leader within institutions including the University of Arizona, the University of California, Davis, and the California State University system.

Under her leadership, SDSU has increased achievement and success for all students, expanded the campus footprint to five locations across San Diego and Imperial Counties, and advanced career-readiness and social mobility for its more than 500,000 alumni. In 2025, SDSU reached its goal of earning “R1” classification as one of the top 5% of American universities for research activity.

Prior to her appointment as president of SDSU, de la Torre served as the vice chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Diversity at UC Davis, director for the UC Davis Center for Transnational Health, and chair of the UC Davis Chicana/Chicano Studies Department. At the University of Arizona she was director of the Hispanic Center of Excellence in the College of Medicine and the Mexican American Studies and Research Center. Before joining the University of Arizona, she was a distinguished professor at Cal State Long Beach. De la Torre holds a doctorate degree in agricultural economics.

Read President de la Torre's full biography.

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