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 and, in spring 2025, the university announced it had officially been classified as an R1 research institution, the highest distinction given to doctoral universities in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The prestigious R1 designation is only granted to doctoral degree-granting universities that meet specific criteria demonstrating "Very High Spending and Doctoral Production.”

Under President de la Torre’s leadership, the university has also 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.

Welcome from President Adela de la Torre

"I feel blessed and privileged to be part of our inspiring one SDSU community. Unique in the higher education sector, SDSU is a R1 institution and a pillar of our transborder region, with campuses stretching from the Pacific to Arizona, and we continue to dedicate ourselves to transforming students’ lives each and every day. I am proud that SDSU continues to be among the nation’s leaders in high graduation rates and high research activity, and that we provide expansive educational access, and are closing achievement gaps for underrepresented students. At SDSU, we reaffirm our clarity of purpose. As our university continues to grow through developments at SDSU Mission Valley, SDSU Imperial Valley, SDSU Georgia and in Oaxaca, Mexico, our workforce-ready graduates are driving economic development in the communities we serve and global innovation in the disciplines they pursue. With one common mission and identity, SDSU is committed to profoundly impacting our students, our region and the world." -Adela de la Torre, San Diego State University President

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, soon to enter its second phase in 2025, 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, set to open at the end of 2025.

Strategic Plan

“We Rise We Defy” is the primary guide for SDSU’s growth and commitment to teaching, research, creativity and transforming the lives of students and communities.

Research and Innovation

Excellence and access are converging at SDSU was named an R1 institution, the highest distinction given to doctoral universities in the United States. Innovation is fostered throughout the SDSU community and is central to new innovation hubs being developed at SDSU Mission Valley and SDSU Imperial Valley.