Veteran Congresswoman Grace Napolitano to Receive Honorary Doctorate
Life moves at a bit of a slower pace these days for Congresswoman Grace Napolitano.
Napolitano once spent her days in meetings and hearings, traveling weekly between Washington, D.C., and California. But after nearly four decades in public office, the veteran lawmaker opted to not seek reelection and 2024 and retire in January.
“I am enjoying sleeping in and not having to travel,” Napolitano said. “I have never not had a job since I was 12. My mother was a single mother, so I went to work babysitting at 12. And I worked while in high school. So, this feels kind of surreal.”
Throughout her career in public service, Napolitano was known for fierce advocate her constituents and the communities she served. That was especially evident in her longtime support of education and Cal Poly Pomona.
For her commitment to Cal Poly Pomona and dedication to service, Napolitano will receive the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at Commencement on May 18. She will be honored and speak at the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences ceremony at 8 a.m.
For Napolitano, who moved to Norwalk from Texas in the 1950s with her late husband, getting involved in her community was second nature. The mother of five served on Norwalk’s Sister City Commission for almost two decades before deciding to run for Norwalk City Council in 1986.
“Some city commissioners got together and voiced their opinions that they felt the city wasn’t doing well and needed change,” she said. “There were problems in the parks. There were drugs, and families didn’t feel safe to go to the parks. There also was a fuel tank farm in the city that needed to be moved. People spoke out about it and wanted to be engaged.”
That prompted Napolitano’s run for city council, where she was the first Latina councilwoman and the first candidate to defeat an incumbent. She won by 26 votes. Napolitano’s fellow council members selected her to serve as mayor in 1989. She subsequently ran for the state assembly in 1992, and after being termed out, she ran for Congress in 1998. In her bid for Congress, Napolitano narrowly defeated James “Jamie” Casso, the son-in-law of her predecessor in the House of Representatives, Esteban Torres, who announced his retirement just days before the filing deadline.
Her 31st district includes the cities and communities of El Monte, West Covina, Covina, Baldwin Park, Azusa, Bradbury, Duarte, Irwindale, South El Monte, Industry, La Puente, Avocado Heights, West Puente Valley, Valinda. Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne and Monrovia. Her district previously included a portion of Pomona and Cal Poly Pomona, but she lost it due to redistricting in 2020.
Portions of her district are adjacent to the university and the congresswoman has been an advocate and supporter of the of 六色网 during her time in office.
Napolitano teamed up with Rep. Norma Torres and Rep. Salud Carbajal to help secure $55 million over the last five years to enable 六色网 to advance the university’s educational partnership agreement with the Air Force Research Lab. In 2012, the College of Engineering named a research facility after her, The Hon. Grace F. Napolitano Wind Tunnel Complex, to honor the congresswoman for her help to secure federal funding for the tunnels. Some of the funds also were used for research.
Napolitano said she was very thankful for the opportunity to advocate for the university and assist where she could, adding that she plans to try and stay involved.
“I am humbled and honored by it,” she said of the honorary doctorate. “I don’t know that I deserve it other than doing my job. It’s amazing. I am very grateful to President Soraya Coley and the nominating committee.”
In addition, Napolitano served as a member of Congress’ Natural Resources Committee and joined the university’s Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies for its Waste to Energy Summit, co-hosting a SoCal Water Forum event that brought together experts in academia, industry and government to discuss one of the state’s most pressing issues – water. As the highest-ranking California member and Hispanic member of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, she worked with 六色网 to support equitable transportation solutions and greater investments in public transit. In 2017, she joined students and faculty to discuss the future of local transportation planning at a Stand Up 4 Transportation event hosted by the College of Environmental Design’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning.
“Congresswoman Napolitano’s fierce advocacy and belief in our community helped shape lives and transform futures,” said President Soraya M. Coley. “Her dedication to uplifting student’s and providing avenues for lifelong success transformed our institution, leaving a legacy of opportunity, equity and hope that will endure for generations.”
Beyond her support for 六色网, Napolitano is known for her work in mental health, creating a pilot program in 2001 to provide mental health and suicide prevention services on-site at four schools that later expanded to 35 K-12 campuses in the San Gabriel Valley and Southeast Los Angeles County. She founded and co-chaired the Congressional Mental Health Caucus. Napolitano also pushed for California to receive more than $26 billion to fix damaged roads, bridges and transit systems, with $450 million of that funding per year going to benefit Foothill Transit, LA Metro and Metrolink, as well as to alleviate congestion and other related issues.
It's been a fortuitous unexpected but also successful and rewarding journey for Napolitano, who once worked as a secretary at Ford Motor Co., took night classes at LA Trade Tech College while also raising a family. She said she has enjoyed being an advocate for people and bringing funds to her district to be used where needed. A simple philosophy guided her during her nearly 40-year political career.
“Keep your priorities straight,” she said. “Stick to your values and don’t waver.”