Alumni Spotlight: Jorge Ramirez ’04

Alumni Spotlight: Jorge Ramirez ’04

President's Associates

The following individuals have given annual gifts of at least $1,000. We salute their investment and invite you to join in supporting Cal State L.A. by making a gift online or calling (323) 343-4866.

  • Anthony Phili Acosta ’74
  • James A. Bell ’97
  • Ruth M. Bell ’93
  • Ann Elizabeth Bradley ’76, ’78 & Dana Champion ’99
  • Mr. & Mrs. Robert Bridenbecker ’66
  • Warren ’71 and Susan Bryant
  • Kyle C. Button
  • Monica Chew ’04
  • William J. Dermody ’71, ’74
  • Jaffe Dickerson
  • Verdel la Cour Flores ’74
  • Ramon Garcia ’71
  • Art M. ’80 & Lillian ’96 Gastelum
  • The Gillett Family
  • Eva Grant ’66, ’72
  • Ernest E. Guerra ’80
  • Robert Hoffman
  • Harry S. Hong
  • Lillian Y. Kawaski ’72, ’80
  • Victor King
  • Dal H. Lee
  • Ethan B. Lipton ’76, ’83 & Janet Lent
  • William ’82 & Kathy Lewis
  • Fred Lopez ’83
  • Gary J. Matus ’69
  • David ’67, ’76 & Rosemary ’70 McNutt
  • Louis R. Negrete ’57
  • Nancy Nguyen ’97
  • Sheryl Okuno ’87
  • Charles H. ’53, ’60 and Dorothy ’70 Palmer
  • George A. Pardon
  • Pamela Angerer Payne ’81, ’91, ’95
  • Thomas N. Peterson
  • Marilyn E. Plummer ’71
  • Peter Quan
  • Philip J. Quigley ’67
  • Jorge Ramirez ’04
  • Chris Rapp ’76
  • Collette Rocha
  • Timothy Wayne Rogers ’82
  • Anthony R. Ross & Laverne White
  • A. Sami Siddiqui ’76
  • Albert Tattoni ’60
  • Linda Trevillian
  • Gilbert Vasquez ’64
  • Geraldine Rene Webb ’73
  • Elizabeth Wheeler ’81
  • Patricia Louise Wohlford ’68
  • Tony Wong ’69, ’74
  • Wilbert Woo ’70, ’77
  • Zeus Xioco ’03
  • William Jih—Shen Yang ’58
  • Donald J. Zuk ’61
Portrait of Jorge Ramirez ’04 at Commencement podium.
Jorge Ramirez ’04

Businessman helps students, alumni engineer successful futures

As a Cal State L.A. undergraduate student in 1988, Jorge Ramirez responded to a job opening he saw posted at the University’s Career Center: the Integrated Circuit Development Corporation needed a cost and marketing analyst; and Ramirez got the job.

Just 10 years later, Ramirez ’04—who quickly rose in the company through hard work, diligence and innovation that earned the respect and favor of the company’s owner—bought the business. Ramirez changed the name to Heateflex Corporation, and began to build what would become more than a decade of steady growth and business development.

“I think what (the experience) really has confirmed—and it was a lesson that my family taught me—was that persistence is the pathway to success,” Ramirez said. “Just stick to the task, keep working at it, and try to figure it out.”

Under Ramirez’s leadership, Heateflex Corporation has been recognized nationally for advancing the engineering profession and benefiting its community. Most recently, the company was included in the 2008 Hispanic Business “Top 50 Exporters” and the Inc. 5000, a list of America’s fastest-growing industries.  Heateflex specializes in the design and construction of innovative heating products that meet the needs of semiconductor, solar-cell and other high-technology industries.

Long before actually becoming a business owner, Ramirez said the seed for such entrepreneurial endeavors was planted in his mind by observing his father and aunt, who owned an auto shop and a market, respectively. He said that the dream was only cultivated and achieved, however, through the opportunities he received through education, and the professional guidance and mentorship he received from his former boss and colleagues.

 “Even though I didn’t finish my degree at Cal State L.A. until later, it was a big part of why I was successful,” said Ramirez, who started his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in the 1980s and returned in 2003 to complete his coursework.  “I had all the foundations there—the ability to talk to engineers and work the business side—which allowed me to be in both worlds.”

Today, Ramirez says that he works to provide others with the same support system and guidance that he received early on in his career, and which helped him to succeed. He does so through several outlets at Cal State L.A. and in his community, he said.

Ramirez, a lifetime member of the CSULA Alumni Association, is the organization’s president. He has also served as an alumni mentor to students, as a President’s Associates benefactor, and as a member of the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology advisory board.

“I recognize how valuable educational opportunities have been in my life and how much of an impact they have had, and I have made a personal commitment to making sure that continues for others,” Ramirez said. “Basically, I have made a commitment to helping my community.”

Ramirez earned both a degree in electrical engineering and a certificate of marketing from Cal State L.A.; he also holds a bachelor’s degree in business and management and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Redlands.

In June, Ramirez greeted 2010 graduates as both a representative of the CSULA Alumni Association and as Friday’s Commencement speaker, reminding them to be the spark, “the heat” that ignites change.

To see Ramirez speaking at Commencement, go to /eagleslive/video1.htm.