Ron Cedillos is a passionate supporter of education and has served California's educational system in leadership roles for over twenty years underscoring his commitment to public education. In addition to other positions, and after being appointed by the Governor of California and receiving a unanimous vote by the California State Senate confirming his appointment, Ron Cedillos served as Trustee of the California State University System for nine years.

Described by University Chancellor Munitz as “one of the strongest trustees” to serve this institution, Ron Cedillos was further honored by being conferred the status of Trustee Emeritus and awarded an honorary degree.

With an annual budget of over $4 Billion and serving 400,000 students on twenty-two individual campuses, the California State University System is the largest institution of higher education in the United States. During his period of almost a decade of leadership, Ron Cedillos worked alongside university presidents and his fellow trustees alike in guiding the institution which Ron Cedillos characterizes as a “national treasure” through challenging periods of growth and budgetary constraints.

An ardent advocate of funding levels sufficient to educate any qualified resident of California choosing to attend the CSU system, Cedillos has vigorously lobbied the governor and state legislature on behalf of the university system.

Though he was involved in all traditional aspects of institutional governance -- including funding levels, budgets, selection of university presidents and other key matters -- Cedillos primarily focused as a Trustee on two areas: access and quality. To these ends, he fought diligently to expand opportunity to those students who had the least financial resources with which to obtain a university education.

As a member of the Board of Trustees, Cedillos and his fellow Trustees were responsible for the oversight of the California State University, its rules, regulations, and policies and had authority over curricular development, use of property, development of facilities, and fiscal and human resources management.

Mr. Cedillos has also been a guest lecturer at the University of Southern California's Business School's Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and for the MBA progam at Pepperdine University. He has consistently advocated merging insights from real life business experiences with academic theory as important components in educating our future business leaders. The Center for Entrepreneurial Studies Program is ranked among the top programs in the nation, and has been ranked #1 by Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine. Business Week as well as U.S. News and World Report have labeled the Center one of the best entrepreneurship programs in the country.

Prior to being appointed Trustee of the entire California State University System, Ron Cedillos served as a member of the Board of Governors of California State University Long Beach. The Board of Governors serves the missions of the university by supporting its financial objectives and engaging in research, entrepreneurship, community service, sponsored programs and the acquisition of private resources for the university. Long Beach State is a diverse, globally engaged public university with a long history of providing highly valued undergraduate and graduate educational opportunities through superior teaching, research, creative activities and service for the people of California and of the world.

Supporting private institutions of education in addition to public institutions is important to Ron Cedillos. In that spirit, Ron has supported Pepperdine University by serving on its University Board and University Associates, both of which provide financial support for the university and its programs. Mr. Cedillos views Pepperdine's Schools of Business, Law, Public Policy and Education to be important educational resources for California. Mr. Cedillos is the recipient of an honorary doctorate degree from Pepperdine University in conjunction with the LAAC/BSA.

Ron Cedillos has furthermore personally supported, financially and in leadership roles, meaningful reform of the K-12 education system