Note to editors and news directors: To arrange interviews or request for photos, please contact the CSULA Public Affairs in advance at (323) 343-3050.

Media Advisory: Cal State L.A. Commencement speakers

High-flying leaders to address Cal State L.A.’s Class of 2009

Doubleheader Commencement Friday and Saturday, June 12-13

Los Angeles, CA – To honor and encourage Cal State L.A.’s Class of 2009, two high-flying leaders—a corporate executive and a university chief—will deliver this year’s Commencement addresses Friday and Saturday, June 12-13.

James A. Bell, corporate president, chief financial officer (CFO) and executive vice president of The Boeing Company, June 12, 5 p.m.

Tito Guerrero, III, president of Cambridge College in Massachusetts, June 13, 8 a.m.

Reporters are welcome to cover the ceremonies at the University’s Athletic Stadium. To make arrangements for interviews or to request photos, call (323) 343-3050. Speakers’ profiles follow below. Campus maps are here: www.calstatela.edu/univ/maps/cslamap.htm

For more details, go to www.calstatela.edu/commencement.

Boeing CFO Bell returns to alma mater as Commencement speaker

James A. Bell is corporate president, chief financial officer (CFO) and an executive vice president of The Boeing Company, the world’s largest aerospace company, since June 2008.

A native of Los Angeles, Bell earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from California State University, Los Angeles. A recipient of Cal State L.A.’s 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award, Bell was selected among the Top 100 Most Important Blacks in Technology in the 2006 U.S. Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine.

A 36-year Boeing veteran, Bell has extensive experience overseeing business performance and strategic growth initiatives at the Chicago-based integrated aerospace company. As CFO, he is responsible for overall financial management of the company; its financial reporting and transparency; and for multiple corporate functions including controller, treasury, investor relations, long-range planning and corporate and strategic development.

He was named acting CFO in November 2003 and formally selected in January 2004. In addition to his former CFO duties, Bell served as Boeing president and chief executive officer on an interim basis.

He is a member of the board of directors of the Joffrey Ballet, the Chicago Urban League, World Business Chicago, Dow Chemical Company, the Chicago Economic Club and New Leaders for New Schools.

Cambridge College president shares vision of future to CSULA grads

Tito Guerrero, III became the president of Cambridge College in Massachusetts on March 1, 2009. Guerrero has been described as “a visionary leader with a stellar national reputation and a wealth of diverse academic experience.”

He was most recently vice president and associate provost for diversity at Texas A&M University. Previously, he was president of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and of the University of Southern Colorado. He has served as a director for the American Council on Education, American Association of State Colleges & Universities, the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities, and American Humanics, Inc.

Currently, Guerrero serves on the board of visitors for Air University, United States Air Force. He also serves as an editorial board member for The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education and SAM Advanced Management Journal.

He obtained his bachelor’s degree in health education and biology from Texas A&M University, his master’s degree in education from the University of North Texas, and his doctorate in education from Harvard University. Guerrero received the Harvard Alumni of Color Achievement Award in 2007 and was selected among the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States by Hispanic Business Magazine in 2006. 

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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 205,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu