President's Profile & CV

Raúl Rodríguez, Ph.D. 

Raúl Rodríguez, Ph.D., has served as a chief executive officer in the California Community College System since 1995. Before joining Hartnell College as superintendent/president in July 2020, he was interim president at East Los Angeles College from July 2019 until June 2020. Prior to that, he was chancellor of the Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) from August 2010 until June 2019.  As chancellor of RSCCD, one of the largest community college districts in California, he oversaw a district that covers one quarter of the land area of Orange County, registers more than 80,000 students a year, and is one of the largest employers in the region, with more than 4,000 employees. Before joining RSCCD, Dr. Rodríguez held a number of positions in both single-college and multi-college community college districts in California. His previous administrative experience includes the following: superintendent/president of San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton (eight years); president of Los Medanos College in the Contra Costa Community College District (six years); both interim president and vice president of instruction at San Jose City College; and dean of instruction at Cabrillo College in Aptos, Calif., among others.

 Professional and community has always been a high priority for Dr. Rodríguez. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) for seven years, serving as chair, vice-chair and immediate past chair. Starting with his first accreditation visit in 1989, Dr. Rodríguez has served as either a team member or team chair on more than 14 accreditation visits to ACCJC member colleges. Dr. Rodríguez recently served an eight-year term on the Board of Directors of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the League of United Latin American Citizens. He has served as a board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Ana, the Orange County Taxpayers Association, the Rotary Club of Orange, California, Goodwill of the Central Valley and many others. He has twice been elected to the Chief Executive Officers Board of the California Community Colleges and was its vice president for Southern California. In addition, Dr. Rodríguez is on the Board of Directors of the National Community College Hispanic Council.

 Dr. Rodríguez holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He also possesses a Master’s of Arts from Fairfield University in School and Applied Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from Bowling Green (Ohio) State University. An educator who taught psychology at Cabrillo College and the University of California, Santa Cruz, he is also a graduate of the Harvard Institute for Educational Management.