Photo by JOHN L. SHINN III
Rollie Santos recently completed 35 years of service at California State University, Los  Angeles. He joined the faculty of the School of  Education's Division of Educational Foundations in 1965.

    He joined the faculty as visiting professor from the University of the Philippines where, besides his teaching responsibilities at the College of education, was also Dean of Men, Foreign Student Adviser, and lecturer at the UNESCO Center for Teacher Education in Asia. Before the U.P. assignment, he was Dean of Graduate Studies at
the Bicol Teachers College in Legazpi, Albay.

In 1963, while in Legazpi, he met and married the former Karen Long, a member of the Peace Corps group to the Philippines. Her teaching assignment was in Lisbon, Albay. She was from Diller, Nebraska. She is presently the Showroom Manager for Marquis Collection of Beverly Hills at the L.A. Mart. Rollie and Karen are long-time residents of
the City of San Marino and fairweather residents of their home in Pacific Beach, San Diego.

    Rollie was born and raised in Zamboanga City. His father was the late Hermenegildo A. Santos Sr., Retired Chief of the Secret Service and his mother, the late Josefina A. Santos, retired Academic Supervisor of Public Schools of the City of Basilan.

    Rollie completed his elemtary education at the Zamboanga Normal School. At Ateneo de Zamboanga, he finished high school, Associate in Arts, Bachelor of Arts, and Bachelor of Science in Education degrees. He later taught at three Ateneo high school and college.

    In 1957, Rollie was awarded Smith-Mundt/Fullbright scholarship to pursue graduate studies at George Peabody College for Teachers, now a part of Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee, where he obtained his Masters and Ph.D. Degrees. Thirty years after his Ph.D., he completed another Masters degree---M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages---at CSULA.

    Before returning to the Philippines in 1962, Rollie coordinated study-abroad programs for The Experiment in International Living in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and in cities of Salmanca and Valladolid, Spain. Eventually, he became the national representative for The Experiment in the Philippines.

    While at Cal State, L.A., Rollie coordinated university work in Guadalajara and Mexico City and did some special studies in Seoul, South Korea, as a guest of the South Korean Government. He served as visiting professor at UCLA, Connecticut College, San Diego State University, and the University of Hawaii. Among several teaching awards, Rollie was recipient of CSULA's Outstanding Professor Award in 1976.

    Rollie has served on several state and Federal committees, most prominent of which was as vice-chairman of the National Advisory Council on Bilingual Education for the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. in 1976. He has been a consultant on various aspects of multi-cultural and multilingual edcuation all over the continental U.S., Hawaii, Saipan, Guam, Puerto Rico and American Samoa. He was also consultant
for the Children's Workshop, SESAME STREET, in New York City.

    Rollie and Karen have four children---Roland, Rick, Lani and Rob.

    Roland (San Diego State University) is the general store manager of the Naval Air Station on North Island, Coronado. He is married to Bridget (nee Riley) from La Jolla, Calif. She is the manager for Marketing Research at Scripps Health Center in San Diego.

    Rick (Berkeley, London School of Economics and Oxford University) is managing director of CD Richard Ellis International Real Estate based in Makati, Philippines. He is married to Bonnie (nee Beagle) from San Francisco. They have a child, Ryan. Lani (UCLA, Cambridge University) is vice president of The Special Events Team, San Diego,
and Rob (Harvard) vice president, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Asia, in Singapore.

    Rollie is an avid antique collector and enjoys gardening, swimming, traveling and dancing. He returns to Zamboanga often where friends and local delicacies refuel his energies!

    Rollie has been an active member of national and state professional organizations, including Filipino American educators associations in Los Angeles, San Diego and Hawaii. He was president and, presently, a board member of the Zamboanga Hermosa Club of Southern California. (End)