Chancellor Emeritus Francisco C. Rodriguez
Learn more about our Chancellor in Residence
Since 2020, Dr. Rodriguez has served as the first Chancellor in Residence for Wheelhouse leadership institutes for current and aspiring community college presidents at the UC Davis School of Education. At Wheelhouse, he shares his expertise as a presenter, facilitator and program advisor for the CEO Institute on Leadership and the Advancing Leaders Institute, and helps to shape research projects focused on the community colleges’ real-time policy and practice needs.
Dr. Francisco C. Rodriguez’s educational career spans over 39 years within California public higher education. After 10.5 years as Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, Dr. Rodriguez retired in November 2024 as Chancellor Emeritus. Dr. Rodriguez also served as superintendent/president of the MiraCosta Community College District (San Diego County), president at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, and Executive Dean at Woodland Community College. Dr. Rodriguez began his educational career at the University of California, Davis, in student affairs and served as the university’s first Cross-Cultural Center director.
Dr. Rodriguez serves on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Board on Science Education and is a founding member of NASEM’s Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education. Dr. Rodriguez also serves on the board of directors for UNITE-LA, the Puente Project, and the California Community College Baccalaureate Association.
A first-generation college student and son of immigrant factory workers, Dr. Rodriguez completed his bachelor’s degree in Chicano Studies and a Master of Science degree in community development at UC Davis. Dr. Rodriguez earned a Ph.D. in education from Oregon State University and received an honorary doctoral degree from Loyola Marymount University.
