The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) established the HACU Hall of Champions to honor those who embody the mission of the Association through exemplary efforts “To Champion Hispanic Success in Higher Education.” The tenth and eleventh inductees into the HACU Hall of Champions are Milton A. Gordon, Ph.D, and Eliseo Torres, Ph.D, who were honored on October 28, 2017 during HACU’s 31st Annual Conference.
Milton A. Gordon served as the fourth president of Cal State Fullerton for more than two decades, beginning in August 1990. He saw the institution grow from 25,600 students to more than 36,000 students and an increase in academic degree programs from 91 to 104, including the establishment of a doctorate in education program — one of the first in the 23-campus California State University system. Approximately 122,000 — more than half of the University’s total alumni — graduated during his 22-year tenure as president. Under his leadership, the University also became the first in the state and fifth in the nation for degrees awarded to Hispanic students.
Gordon is credited with presiding over the creation of numerous partnerships and programs, including one that is a national model for supporting former foster youth — the Guardian Scholars Program. The first of its kind in the nation, the successful program was launched in 1998 in collaboration with the Orangewood Children’s Foundation.
Gordon held leadership posts for a number of national organizations, including a two-year stint as chair of the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities. He was a member of the National ROTC Program Subcommittee, U.S. Army; American Association of Colleges & Universities Grants Resource Center and Stewards in Place II Committee; and American Council on Education’s Commission on International Initiatives.
His local service included memberships on the boards of the Orange County Business Council, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and the World Affairs Council.
Gordon was honored often during his 21 years as CSUF’s leader. Among the awards he received: the 2011 Illinois Institute of Technology Professional Achievement Award, the 2010 President’s Award of Excellence from the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities, the 2010 Alfredo G. de los Santos Jr. Distinguished Leadership in Higher Education Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, and the 2010 Man of the Year Award from Christ Our Redeemer AME Church, the Black Chamber of Orange County, 100 Black Men of Orange County, and the Orange County Ministerial Alliance.
First joining the CSU in 1986, Gordon served as vice president for academic affairs and professor of mathematics for Sonoma State University. Previously, Gordon had served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of mathematics at Chicago State University; project director, Title III of the Strengthening Development Institutions Program, HEW at Chicago State University; director of the Afro-American Studies Program at Chicago’s Loyola University; associate professor of mathematics at Loyola; mathematics instructor at the Illinois Institute of Technology; and elementary and secondary school teacher in the Chicago Public School System; as well as a mathematician for the Laboratory of Applied Sciences at the University of Chicago.
Gordon earned a doctorate in mathematics at the Illinois Institute of Technology, an M.A. in mathematics at the University of Detroit, and a B.S. in mathematics and secondary education at Xavier University of Louisiana.