Office of the President

San Diego State University President
Adela de la Torre, Ph.D.

Dr. Adela de la Torre became the 9th president of San Diego State University in 2018, following a distinguished career of more than three decades as an accomplished economist, public-health researcher and higher-education leader in both California and Arizona. She is the first Chicana and first woman to serve as the president of the university. This followed a distinguished career within the California State University system and at both the University of Arizona and the University of California, Davis. 

In late 2020, she launched a 5-year strategic plan to grow the multi-location university’s  research enterprise and global presence and impact, while enhancing access and expanding academic programs. President de la Torre’s student-centric strategy focuses on driving student opportunity and success through university growth and resiliency, while emphasizing equity, access, sustainability and community engagement. By early 2024, the university marked 75 percent completion of activities and success metrics contained in the plan.

Under President de la Torre’s leadership, the university has set new records in enrollment, athletic competitiveness, philanthropic giving, external funding of research, and national rankings. It has reached new heights and broken records with its rapid growth of faculty research, regional expansion, economic and community impact. Among the notable achievements, development of the mixed-use SDSU Mission Valley – with a new stadium, 1.6 million square foot Innovation District and 80 acres of open space – remains on schedule and ground was recently broken on a new $80 million STEM facility at SDSU Imperial Valley. Student access, success and social mobility have soared, while nearly eliminating achievement gaps for underrepresented, first-generation and financially disadvantaged students.

Mission and Goals

SDSU President Adela la Torre united the university through a 5-year strategic plan whose five core strategic priorities center on the university’s position as  a premier public research university. The strategic plan is strengthening  institutional resilience and sustainability, driving equity and inclusion, unifying campus locations and placing students at the core. SDSU is advancing all areas of its educational, research, teaching and service missions through a and other priority initiatives focused on innovation, student achievement, sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion. Among SDSU’s most recent strategic priorities, President de la Torre is leading the expansion of SDSU’s Global Campus, the architecture of innovation hubs at both SDSU Mission Valley and SDSU Imperial Valley, and the construction of the Sciences and Engineering Laboratories in Brawley, California.