Judith Valles (born 1933) is an American educator and former politician. She was the first

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

mayor of

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

. The daughter of Gonzalo and Jovita Valles, both Mexican immigrants, she was born in San Bernardino and was educated at San Bernardino High School and at San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC). She taught elementary school and high school while earning a BA in English from the

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university in Redlands, California, United States. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Calif ...

. Valles went on to earn a master's degree in Spanish literature from the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

and to do doctoral work at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. She later completed a doctorate in Education at the University of Redlands. In 1965, she became a member of the faculty at SBVC, where she taught Spanish until 1984. At SBVC, Valles served as: * head of the department of foreign languages from 1972 to 1976 * chair of the division of humanities from 1976 to 1981 * dean of Extended Day and Summer Session from 1981 to 1983 * administrative dean of academic affairs from 1983 to 1987 * executive vice president of academic and student affairs from 1987 to 1988 She was named to the SBVC Alumni Hall of Fame in 1991. In 1988, she became president of Golden West College, becoming the first Latina to serve as president of a California college or university, and served as chief executive until 1993. She has also been a trustee for

San Bernardino Community College District The San Bernardino Community College District (SBCCD) is a public community college system in Crafton Hills College and San Bernardino Valley College in southern California. It part of the California Community Colleges System. Since 1926, ...

. She was also host and producer for a Spanish-language television show for KVCR-TV. She was elected mayor of San Bernardino in 1998 and reelected

in 2002 IN, In or in may refer to: Dans * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independen ...

. After completing her second term as mayor, she served as president of

Los Angeles Mission College Los Angeles Mission College is a public community college in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College District and is accredited by the WASC Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. History ...

for three years. In 2012, she became a member of the San Bernardino Municipal Water Department Board of Commissioners. In 1989, she received the Citizen of Achievement Award from the League of Women Voters and, in 1990, was named Outstanding Women of Orange County Award by the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

. In 2003, she was awarded the Ohtli Medal by the government of Mexico. In 2015, she published a book ''As My Mother Would Say: Como Decia Mi Mama'' about life lessons that she received from her mother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valles, Judith 1933 births Living people 20th-century mayors of places in California 21st-century mayors of places in California American politicians of Mexican descent Mayors of San Bernardino, California University of Redlands alumni San Bernardino Valley College alumni Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Hispanic and Latino American mayors in California Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Women mayors of places in California Women heads of universities and colleges 21st-century American women politicians