Julio Bortolazzo

Last updated

Julio Bortolazzo (1915-2006) was an American higher education administrator, and a pioneer in the development of community colleges in California.

Born in 1915 in Santa Barbara, California, he was the son of Italian immigrants Santo and Vittoria Bortolazzo (originally from Crespano del Grappa, Italy). [1] Growing up in a mixed Italian and Hispanic section of Santa Barbara, he spoke Italian and Spanish before he learned English. [2] He attended local public schools and graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1932. [3] He then attended Santa Barbara State College where he was active in tennis and student life (and won the men's tennis championship at least twice). [4] He also played on the Santa Barbara State College baseball team. [5]

He graduated from Santa Barbara State College in 1936 (and would later be granted an outstanding alumni award in 1967). [6] After graduation, Bortolazzo started teaching as a social studies teacher at Santa Barbara Junior High (where he was remembered as a kind and inspirational teacher). [1] While teaching at the secondary level in Santa Barbara, California, Bortolazzo earned a master's degree in Education from USC in 1939. [7]

James B. Conant, the President of Harvard University, sat in on Bortolazzo's teaching one day at Santa Barbara High School and then offered him a scholarship to pursue doctoral study at Harvard. [1] He paused his doctoral study to serve as a Lieutenant Commander in the US Naval Reserve during World War II. [2] During the war, he was involved in officer education programs. [1] After World War II ended, Bortolazzo returned to Harvard and finished his Ed. D. in 1949, with a dissertation entitled “An evaluation of instructional film usage in United States Navy training activities, other than air, World War II, with implications for post-war civilian education”. [8]

He was then appointed superintendent of the Lake Oswego School District in Oregon in 1950. [9] In 1952, Bortolazzo was appointed President of what was then known as “Stockton College” (a community college in Stockton, California). [10] In 1955, the United States Operation Mission invited Bortolazzo to examine technical schools in Italy. [11]

In 1956, Bortolazzo was appointed President of the College of San Mateo (a community college in San Mateo, California) which he would lead from 1956 to 68. He led the campus through a period of great expansion both in terms of facilities and number of students, thought at times he tangled with trustees and enforced a strict dress code for faculty and students (one trustee called him a “bulldozer with brains”). [12] While President of the College of San Mateo, the US State Department's International Cooperation Administration invited Bortolazzo to Liberia as a consultant for industrial education in 1958. [13] In 1960, Bortolazzo accompanied Harvard President James B. Conant as a consultant to support educational reforms in Italy in 1960. [14] Bortolazzo was instrumental in the creation of two more community colleges in the San Mateo Community College District: Cañada College in Redwood City, California in 1968 and Skyline College in San Bruno, California in 1969. [1]

Bortolazzo then returned to Stockton, California, in 1968, where he served an additional year as president of what was now called San Joaquin Delta College and led a successful bond campaign for 50 million dollars. [10] The tennis courts at the college are named in his honor. [15]

He returned to his native Santa Barbara as president of Santa Barbara City College from 1969 to 1970. [16] He led the campus through infrastructure improvements, including the construction of a tennis facility at the adjoining Pershing Park. Blessed with an intense work ethic (and an early riser), he would come to work by 6 AM and sometimes scheduled telephone calls with faculty union leaders before that. [17]

In 1971, he was appointed Chancellor of the South Carolina Technical College System. He lobbied for a transformation of the technical schools into community colleges from which African Americans would have an opportunity to transfer into the public universities. [18] His tenure there was brief and stormy, and he resigned early. [18]

Bortolazzo returned to Santa Barbara, CA for retirement and helped raise money to rebuild the Santa Barbara Municipal Tennis Stadium, often mentioning that he played the first match ever held in that stadium in 1937. [2] He also played a leading role in the Municipal Unemployed Tennis Seniors group at the Santa Barbara Municipal Tennis Courts. [1]

Dr. Julio Bortolazzo died in 2006. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Barbara City College</span>

Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is a public community college in Santa Barbara, California. It opened in 1909 and is located on a 74-acre (30 ha) campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of California, Santa Barbara</span> Public university in Santa Barbara, California

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California, United States. It is part of the University of California 10-university system. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers' college, UCSB joined California State system in the 1920s and then the University of California system in 1944. It is the third-oldest undergraduate campus in the system, after UC Berkeley and UCLA. Total student enrollment for 2022 was 26,961; 23,460 undergraduates and 2,961 post graduates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Clara University</span> Private non-profit Jesuit university located in Santa Clara, California

Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís which traces its founding to 1777. The campus mirrors the Mission's architectural style and is one of the finest groupings of Mission Revival architecture and other Spanish Colonial Revival styles. The university is classified as a "Doctoral/Professional" university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of the Pacific (United States)</span> Private university in Stockton, California, United States

University of the Pacific is a private Methodist-affiliated university with its main campus in Stockton, California, and graduate campuses in San Francisco and Sacramento. It claims to be California's first university, the first independent coeducational campus in California, and the first conservatory of music and first medical school on the West Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José M. Hernández</span> American engineer and former NASA astronaut

José Moreno Hernández is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He currently serves as a Regent of the University of California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harder Stadium</span> Stadium in Santa Barbara, California, US

Harder Stadium is a 17,000-seat, outdoor multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California. It serves as the on-campus soccer stadium for both the men's and women's programs. Currently used occasionally by the university's club rugby and lacrosse teams, it was originally the home of the defunct football program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry T. Yang</span> Chinese American engineer and educator (born 1940)

Henry Tzu-Yow Yang is a Chinese American mechanical engineer, university administrator, and the fifth and current chancellor of the University of California, Santa Barbara, a post he has held since 1994.

Donald J. Ford is a former American basketball power forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. He also was a member of the Auxilium Torino in Europe. He played college basketball at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of California police departments</span>

Police departments in the University of California system are charged with providing law enforcement to each of the system's campuses.

Keith Puccinelli was an American artist based in Ventura, California. He created drawings, sculptures, and interactive installations.

Burleigh Taylor Wilkins was a professor in the Department of Philosophy of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Timothy Harold Vom Steeg is an American collegiate soccer head coach who is currently with the University of California, Santa Barbara men's soccer team. He has been with the Gauchos since 1999 and is the most successful coach in the history of UC Santa Barbara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration</span>

The Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) is a research center under the Office of Research at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) whose mission is to preserve regional biodiversity and restore ecosystems on campus lands. CCBER has three main functions: curation and preservation of natural history collections, native coastal ecosystem and habitat restoration on campus lands, and education and outreach for both UCSB students and local community schools.

The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) traces its roots back to the 19th century, when it emerged from the Santa Barbara School District, which was formed in 1866 and celebrated its 145th anniversary in 2011. UCSB's earliest predecessor was the Anna S. C. Blake Manual Training School, named after Anna S. C. Blake, a sloyd-school which was established in 1891. From there, the school underwent several transformations, most notably its takeover by the University of California system in 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of California, Santa Barbara campus</span> University campus in California, United States

The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus is located around 10 miles west of downtown Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara County, California.

Francis "Frank" J. Doyle III is an American engineer and academic administrator. He is the dean of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the John A. and Elizabeth S. Armstrong Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Doyle is also affiliated with the Division of Sleep Medicine of Harvard Medical School. On December 15, 2022 it was announced that Doyle will serve as the 14th provost of Brown University starting in the 2023 academic year.

La Playa Stadium is the on-campus stadium for Santa Barbara City College in Santa Barbara, California, United States. The stadium has a capacity of 10,000. The venue serves as the home for the Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros football, soccer and track and field teams. The stadium also serves as the venue for the college's graduation ceremonies.

Frank J. Frost is an American scholar of Ancient Greek history, archaeologist, politician, and novelist.

Harold A. Drake is an American scholar of Ancient Roman history, with an emphasis on late antiquity.

Eber Hampton is a Chickasaw academic and public figure. Over the course of his career, he has served as president of the First Nations University of Canada and at the helm of the Harvard American Indian Program. Described as a "Pioneer in Indigenous Education", Hampton previously served on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 See his obituary in the East Bay Times at: https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2006/05/04/julio-bortolazzo-pioneer-of-community-colleges-dies/
  2. 1 2 3 See George E. Frakes, “Memories of Santa Barbara City College from 1962 to 1970,” at: http://legacyproject.sbcc.edu/memoirs-and-profiles/faculty/26-2/
  3. ↑ See Santa Barbara High School Alumni News (Spring 2019), p. 1, available at: https://issuu.com/sbhsaluminassociation/docs/2019_spring
  4. ↑ See Santa Barbara State College El Gaucho (May 8, 1935), pp. 3-4 at: https://alexandria.ucsb.edu/downloads/hx11xg28v
  5. ↑ See Santa Barbara State College El Gaucho (May 22, 1935), p. 3 at: https://www.alexandria.ucsb.edu/downloads/cc08hg56k
  6. ↑ See list of alumni of the year recipients at: https://www.alumni.ucsb.edu/events/awards/past-recipients
  7. ↑ See USC 56th Commencement Program (1939), available online at: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15799coll104/id/242134
  8. ↑ See entry at Harvard University Library Catalog at: http://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990014483370203941/catalog
  9. ↑ See summary of news stories of the Oswego Review Newspaper at: https://www.ci.oswego.or.us/loreview/node/31310
  10. 1 2 See short history of the college in the San Joaquin Delta College Catalog, available online at: https://www.deltacollege.edu/sites/default/files/17-18_san_joaquin_delta_college_catalog.090817_final.pdf
  11. ↑ See Andrea Mariuzzi, “‘Soft Power’ and Education Reform. American Foundations, Cultural Diplomacy and Italian Universities (1956-1968), paper presented to the Society of the History of American Foreign Relations Annual Conference (2014), available online at: https://www.academia.edu/8130093/_Soft_Power_and_Education_Reform._American_Foundations_Cultural_Diplomacy_and_Italian_Universities_1956-1968_.
  12. ↑ See Columnists, M. S. (2006). Palo Alto Daily News, Calif., Matters Historical column: Matters Historical: 'A bulldozer with brains' built schools. McClatchy - Tribune Business News, p. 1.
  13. ↑ See The Times of San Mateo (March 26, 1960), p. 7.
  14. ↑ Andrea Mariuzzi, “American Cultural Diplomacy and post-war educational reforms: James Bryant Conant's Mission to Italy in 1960,” History of Education (Journal of the History of Education Society) 45 (2016), pp. 352-371.
  15. ↑ See map of college at: https://www.deltacollege.edu/location/julio-l-bortolazzo-tennis-courts
  16. ↑ See the chronology of Santa Barbara City College at: http://legacyproject.sbcc.edu/history/chronology/
  17. ↑ See program of 2015 Hall of Fame at College of San Matteo at: https://collegeofsanmateo.edu/halloffame/docs/2015HallofFameProgram.pdf</ref. On negotiating with faculty union, see George E. Frakes, “Memories of Santa Barbara City College from 1962 to 1970,” at: http://legacyproject.sbcc.edu/memoirs-and-profiles/faculty/26-2/
  18. 1 2 See Tom Poland, Transforming SC's Destiny: SC's Technical College System's First 50 Years, pp. 35-36, available online at: http://www.sctechsystem.edu/transformingsouthcarolinasdestiny/book/files/assets/basic-html/page37.html
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.