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Gary Segura, Dean of UCLA Luskin

Published by USC Bedrosian Center on

by Casey Fischl

Gary Segura is the Dean of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Under his leadership, Luskin has successfully launched its first undergraduate program in the fall of 2018. Gary is also a Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Chicano and Chicana Studies. His research focuses on political representation, wartime public opinion, and the politics of America’s growing Latino minority. Gary spoke on how he got to where he is today as a dean and as a businessman. He emphasized the importance of being an open and honest leader both in academia and in the polling and research firm that he co-founded, Latino Decisions.

His lessons of good governance:

  • Be transparent
  • Never tell a lie
  • Always know how much money you have
  • Respect

Gary began his career as a faculty member of UC Davis, Claremont Graduate University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Washington. Most recently before joining UCLA in 2017, Gary taught at Stanford University. When asked why he left an ivy league institution for UCLA, Gary explains that he wanted to work at a university where diversity is prioritized and embraced and that the research directly impacts the public.

Gary received a bachelor of arts magna cum laude in political science from Loyola University of the South, and a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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