MERCED, CA. — Esteban Soriano, a noted university fund-raiser and management consultant, has been named vice chancellor for University Advancement at the University of California, Merced, it was announced today by Chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey. The appointment is subject to the approval of the University of California Board of Regents.
Soriano's background includes many years of service in fundraising, communications and government relations for a variety of institutions including UC Riverside and UC Berkeley. His most recent position was as Vice President for University Advancement at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he began service in 1998.
“I am delighted to have Esteban Soriano join the UC Merced family,” said Tomlinson-Keasey. “His extensive background in university advancement, and his experience as a professor and researcher will provide many opportunities for the University to enhance its resources and profile here in California and beyond.”
Soriano, who earned his doctorate degree from Stanford University, is expert in communication strategies, economic impact studies and assessments, methodology, and research design. He has been designated as a “high-level expert” by US Department of Labor and Department of Education when representing US interests before the European Union, and was selected as small business expert representative for a US delegation to the international Organization for Economic and Community Development hearings in France.
As Vice Chancellor for University Advancement, Soriano will oversee development, government relations, community relations, alumni relations, communications, and special events at Merced. Soriano will begin his duties on November 1, taking over from James Erickson, who is retiring from his position as vice chancellor.
Soriano said that he was attracted to UC Merced because of the challenges and opportunities presented by creating the 10th campus of the UC system.
“The collection of excitement, enthusiasm, commitment, and enterprise that has already been created at Merced is an unshakable magnet. One cannot help but be attracted to it,” he said. “The community and regional support for the university is a marvelous asset, and it will be an honor to help create the next great research university in America.”
Before his work at Pomona, Soriano founded and headed The Resource Group, a Riverside-based development services and strategic communication firm. The company provides resource development services, strategic communications, image enhancement, and marketing outreach to colleges, government entities, and the private sector. From 1987 with the firm's founding, to 1998, Soriano served nearly 700 clients, including almost 150 cities, more then 50 local and regional agencies, nearly one dozen state and federal agencies, almost 100 colleges and universities, and several hundred companies.
Soriano has a long history of commitment to the San Joaquin Valley: He was born in Madera to a migrant farm worker family, and was the first in his family to complete college, and earned his bachelor's from CSU Fresno. He earned a master's degree and a doctorate degree in communications from Stanford.
He has held a variety of professorial and instructional positions in communications and marketing, including service as an assistant professor at Stanford, a lecturer at CSU Fresno, a professor at Cal Poly Pomona's school of business, and a visiting professor at the American Indian tribal institution, D-Q University.
Soriano was for several years employed in the Fresno area, where he was a reporter/photographer for UPI, an announcer/director for KFSN-TV, and section editor of several community-based small newspapers.
Later, Soriano was director of research and development for the West Side Planning Group in Fresno, where he assisted the organization in increasing rural development opportunities through small-business funding.
In his professional career, he has been awarded designation as Ford Fellow, National Research Fellow, Fulbright Scholar, and J. H. Sanders Marketing Fellow.
He has served three U.S. Presidents on national boards and commissions. He served the Carter administration on the national task force focusing on the communications needs of rural America. He served the Reagan administration as a member of the Teacher in Space Selection Panel. He served the Clinton administration as the presidential appointee to the National Skill Standards Board.
Soriano also has extensive experience relating to electric and water utilities. In Riverside he served for seven years on that city's municipal utility board and was chairman of the electric committee, chairman of the finance committee, and overall Board Chairman. He served on the public policy advisory board of the American Public Power Association for two years.
Soriano and his wife Judy, a redevelopment specialist, intend to make their home in the
Merced area. They have three grown children.
Expected to open in fall of 2004 to serve 1,000 students, UC Merced is the 10th UC campus. Over the coming decades, the campus will grow to become a vibrant, comprehensive research university with 25,000 students and approximately 6,000 faculty and staff. In addition to the main campus, UC Merced will leverage digital technology to develop an educational network throughout the San Joaquin Valley. UC Merced currently operates educational and outreach centers in Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield.
