Education – Folks

Rodolfo Arevalo, Ph.D.

Hometown: Edinburg, Texas
Place of Residence: Cheney
Occupation: President of Eastern Washington University

Rodolfo Arevalo, Eastern Washington University’s 25th president, believes education gives a person more choices.

“College is an opportunity that provides you many more options about what you can do with your life,” he says. “Education is something that allows you to make your own decisions, as opposed to allowing other people to make decisions for you because you have a skill that hopefully other people won’t have, and you can market that skill more effectively.”

The son of migrant workers, Arevalo is a first-generation college graduate. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas-Pan American and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan where he also received his doctorate in educational leadership.

Arevalo worked in the California university system for 18 years.

Since joining EWU in 2006, the college has worked with the community here on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) initiatives. Arevalo is co-chair of Spokane STEM, which looks at how businesses, government and education can collaborate to increase students’ interest and participation in math and science.

In the next five to 10 years, Arevalo predicts that EWU will continue to grow its science, engineering and allied-health offerings.

“At the same time, I think we’re going to continue to support, very effectively, historical programs that we’ve had at Eastern, like our college of education, our strong programs in social science like government, psychology and geology, because those are our mainstays,” Arevalo says.

Spokane is a developing area with much promise.

“It has a lot of potential in becoming an educated-workforce city that I think a lot of Fortune 500 companies are going to like, so I think there’s a great potential for growth and economic prosperity for the region,” he says.

Arevalo was drawn to the Spokane area by the potential of his presidential position at EWU.

“Eastern was engaged in giving opportunities to first-generation college students. Given my background, it was logical for me to join an institution that was working to cater to low-income, first-generation and rural populations,” he says.

Between 2006 and 2011, the diversity of EWU’s student body increased to 32 percent from 14.9 percent.

“We’ve done a very good job of recruiting on the west side and the central part of the state so our numbers, in terms of diverse students, have grown quite a bit in six years,”

Having grown up in Texas, Arevalo appreciates the four seasons here. He enjoys skiing and hiking, while his wife, Nadine, loves to fish. “There’s enough lakes here to satisfy her desires,” he says.

The pace is slower here than in other places he’s lived, especially compared to California.

“The diversity of what there is to do in the area is as broad as other places that I’ve been,” Arevalo says. “There’s certainly a variety of activities, especially during the warmer months you can take advantage of, whether it’s a local rodeo or Hoopfest or Pig Out in the Park. There are a lot of amenities conducive to outdoor life, which my wife and I like.”