Dr. Refugio Rochin has been designated as one of “America’s Top 100 Influential Hispanics,” by Hispanic Business magazine, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Northeastern University, Boston in 2000.

Dr. Rochin is a long-time leader in promoting innovation and change in higher education settings and a published author and internationally recognized expert in his field of economics and international development. He is often quoted by the press on Latino issues and in 2002, was featured in the Latin American Times as Hispanic of the Week.

As he has done throughout his life, Dr. Refugio Rochin continues work to enhance the effectiveness of programs and policies that improve educational opportunities for under-represented groups, socio-economic conditions for all, and community well-being through teaching, applied research, public speaking, and service through various organizations.

He has been Executive Director of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Latinos and Native Americans in Science, (SACNAS); Senior Fellow at the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and the Institute’s Associate Director for the Inter-University Program for Latino Research (IUPLR).

Dr. Rochin worked nationally with Latino scholars and strengthened the capacity of Latino research centers to generate policy-relevant, Latino focused research. He also established the Washington D.C. office of the IUPLR in the University of California Washington Center and taught a course at Notre Dame on Latino Economic Development.  Concomitantly, Dr. Rochin was the Senior Associate “pro-bono” of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts in Washington, D.C., developing support for Latino actors, producers, and writers in TV and Film in association with the national Hispanic Scholarship Fund Additionally, Refugio Rochin was the Founding Director of the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives and the Latino Initiatives Fund, in Washington DC. He established the Smithsonian National Board for Latino Initiatives and the Smithsonian’s acclaimed “Latino Virtual Gallery,” sponsoring traveling exhibitions of national renown.

Before joining the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Rochin was Full Professor of Sociology and Agricultural Economics and the first permanent Director of the Julian Samora Research Institute (JSRI) at Michigan State University, July 1994 through July 1998. Dr. Rochin developed a “Center of Excellence” for research on Latino community development, administered the Midwest Consortium for Latino Research, and established the nation’s premier website for research on Midwest Latinos and articles on U.S. Latino history, communities, psychology, arts and culture.

Dr. Rochin ia an appointee to the Federal Communications Commission, Committee for Consumers/Disability; the USDA National Board for Agricultural Research Extension, Education, and Economics; and since 2005 serves on the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Council of Economic Advisors.

He serves on the NIH Advisory Board of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA and the Department of Energy Educational Advisory Committee of the National Renewable Energy Laboratories in Golden, Colorado. He has served on numerous national and international boards for organizations focused on Hispanic issues, education, and advocacy for children. He is also a member of numerous professional organizations and inducted into Sigma Xi.

Dr. Rochin was born in the barrio of Colton, California and completed his PhD. in Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University with additional graduate and undergraduate degrees in Communication, Economics, and Anthropology from the University of Arizona and UC Berkeley.

Dr. Refugio Rochin was a member of the Peace Corps in the 60’s and was a panelist at SDSU on occasion of the Peace Corps 50th anniversary celebration in 2011.