Adela de la Torre became the ninth president of San Diego State University in 2018. She previously served six years as vice chancellor of student affairs and campus diversity at the University of California, Davis.
In this feature, de la Torre reflects on the values driving SDSU’s transformation, highlighting deep listening, shared governance and bold innovation as the foundation for lasting impact. Her commitment to student success and social mobility, affordability and research excellence demonstrates how public higher education can be future ready and community rooted.
Tracing a Leadership Journey Shaped by Purpose and Impact
Across four decades, I have served as a faculty member, economist, public health researcher and higher education leader in California and Arizona. I have chaired departments, led research centers and worked across disciplines from ethnic studies to public health and health care administration. My experience in Research One (R1) and Association of American Universities (AAU) institutions shaped a strong understanding of tenure, grant development, research expansion and academic growth.
Because I have lived the full academic journey myself, from tenure to grant writing to building research centers, I lead with a perspective and an empathy that comes only from firsthand experience. That lived knowledge informs my decisions for our campus community. My focus has always been strategic growth that advances student success, research excellence, community impact and global engagement.
“While the national conversation questions the value of higher education, we are delivering results that prove what is possible when access and excellence move together.”
These priorities have guided SDSU to a transformative moment in its 129 year history. We completed an ambitious five-year strategic plan launched in 2020 and achieved R1 status by meeting the Carnegie Foundation’s requirements for research expenditures and doctoral production. National visibility expanded through our men’s basketball team’s 2023 appearance in the NCAA Final Four and announcement of our 2026 entry into the new Pac-12 Conference.
Our footprint beyond our San Diego campus includes Mission Valley, Imperial Valley and Chula Vista in Southern California, along with global hubs in Mexico, the country of Georgia, and Palau. With more than $1.3 billion in research funding and $1 billion in philanthropy since 2018, and with total enrollment of 44,000 students selected from an annual pool of more than 123,000 applicants, SDSU continues to earn public trust and demonstrate that public higher education can be both accessible and transformative.
A Milestone That Proved the Model Works
When I became president in 2018, I led with the conviction that SDSU could exceed its own expectations. Together, our faculty, staff and students embraced a culture of innovation that made ideas once considered out of reach suddenly possible. SDSU’s recent ascendance came from setting bold goals and proving we could exceed them.
Our most ambitious goal was achieving R1 status, placing SDSU in the top 5% of U.S. universities for research activity and doctoral education. We achieved that goal in February-2025 and it accelerated our expectations for success at all levels.
Expanding our footprint through SDSU Mission Valley was a second critical goal. This new campus demonstrated how an unprecedented public private partnership could bring our vision to life. It sparked a new era of purposeful growth and ignited the vision for our Mission Valley Innovation District as a place where bold ideas, community impact and future-shaping discovery can thrive.
This development required a new stadium—built during the COVID-19 pandemic—market rate housing, a community river park and one of the first joint-use STEM buildings where community college and university faculty will co-teach accelerated academic pathways.
Expanding our campus in Imperial Valley became a third critical priority, reflecting a commitment to reversing decades of underinvestment in higher education in one of California’s most underserved communities. At SDSU Imperial Valley, we rebuilt a 66-year-old campus, expanded public health and nursing programs, strengthened our binational presence and aligned academic offerings with the Lithium Valley initiative to prepare a local STEM workforce for the area’s emerging clean energy industries.
Changing the ROI Debate
While the national conversation questions the value of higher education, we are delivering results that show what is possible when access and excellence converge. We are delivering on a commitment to social mobility and return on investment at a time when many question whether a college degree is still worth the cost.
Nearly three quarters of our graduates never take out a single student loan, and nearly every dollar from the millions in donor supported scholarships is awarded directly to students every year.
Our impact is reflected in the success of more than 500,000 living alumni. Nearly 80% of our students graduate, far above national averages, and most do so in four years thanks to strong advising and full course access. For every dollar California invests in SDSU, we generate more than $38 in statewide economic activity, including alumni earnings across healthcare, technology, education, business and engineering.
More than 87% of students complete internships before graduating, with a goal of reaching 100%. Our Aztecs Going Pro program prepares Division I athletes for professional careers beyond sports. SDSU alumni earn significantly higher median incomes attributed to their degrees, totaling $5.3 billion in higher salary earnings annually and contributing $519 million in state and local tax revenues each year in California alone. Investing in SDSU strengthens students, fortifies California and advances the nation.
Preparing Students for an AI Driven Economy
The future at SDSU is focused on preparing students for a workforce shaped by evolving artificial intelligence competencies and skills-based hiring. Our Academic Applications of AI initiative and microcredential program centralize this work by integrating AI literacy into all degree pathways.
This effort is supported by a California Learning Lab grant to scale AI-integrated pedagogy and faculty training. SDSU’s College of Arts and Letters launched a new AI degree centered on human responsibility and ethics, emphasizing that AI is a tool and human judgment and critical thinking matter most.
We also pioneered the nation’s most extensive AI survey, creating a foundational dataset now scaled across more than 100,000 respondents from the entire 22-campus CSU system and beyond. This longitudinal research has become a global benchmark, replicated nationally and internationally to guide curriculum redesign and institutional strategy.
Partnerships with organizations such as AWS, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Adobe ensure students gain hands-on experience with AI tools in secure environments that protect privacy and intellectual property.
The Leadership Mindset That Changes Everything
Leadership in higher education begins with deep listening, mutual respect and openness to diverse perspectives. It requires humility, self awareness and the courage to adapt while remaining grounded in institutional mission and values.
It also requires a willingness to take thoughtful risks and lead with steadiness during uncertainty. Success never happens in isolation. Institutions need a clear North Star, and decisions must consistently reflect it.
Shared governance is a practice, not a concept. It depends on collaboration, trust and respect for the wisdom of faculty, staff and students. When leadership becomes autocratic, trust is lost. Lasting institutional excellence is achieved only when diverse voices move forward together.
