Catherine Sandoval
Encyclopedia
Catherine J.K. Sandoval is the first Hispanic commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission
. Sandoval is a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law
. In 1984, she was the first Latina Rhodes scholar
.
, to Vernon Kissee, a court reporter from Missouri, and Helen Sandoval; a woman born in Mexico and raised in Arizona. Along with an older and a younger sister, Sandoval was brought up in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles.
In a Los Angeles Times opinion article, she recalled in 1991 that her elementary school, Dacotah Street School (now Christopher Dena Elementary School), was 95% Hispanic and that:
Sandoval's family moved a few miles eastward to Montebello
, where she attended Eastmont Intermediate School and Schurr High School
.
in 1980. She served on the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee where she noted that about 35% of the Hispanic students at Yale dropped out, compared to only 5% of the total student population. In 1984 she graduated magna cum laude
with a bachelor of arts degree in Latin American Studies. Encouraged by her teachers and a Rhodes scholar, she applied for and received a Rhodes scholarship
—the first female Latin-American recipient. Sandoval entered Oxford University in October 1984 on her scholarship and studied global politics, forming a thesis regarding U.S. and Western European policy toward Nicaragua and El Salvador. In 1986, she studied the record of Latinos enrolled in Ivy League
schools. She rowed on the crew team and she lettered in varsity basketball. In 1987, she left Oxford for Stanford Law School
. There, she served on the Stanford Law Review
and the Stanford Journal of International Law. Sandoval co-chaired the Stanford Latino Law Students Association. In 1990 after three years at Stanford, she completed the thesis work she had started as a Rhodes scholar, and was awarded a Master of Letters
in Politics from Oxford. The same year, she earned a law degree from Stanford Law School.
as law clerk to Judge Dorothy Wright Nelson
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
. After being admitted to the State Bar of California
in July 1991, Sandoval was an associate litigator of Munger, Tolles & Olson
, a law firm in Los Angeles. As a board member of the Villa Malaga Housing Corporation, she managed a $2 million project funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) which provided housing for people with disabilities
in East Los Angeles. Sandoval served on the Los Angeles County Commission on Judicial Procedures, and she co-chaired the Subcommittee on Rating and Underwriting, part of the California Insurance Commission's Anti-Discrimination Task Force under John Garamendi
.
In March 1994, Sandoval was named Special Assistant to the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), working in the FCC's Office of International Communications, overseeing FCC policy in Latin America and developing countries. She directed the FCC's Office of Communications Business Opportunities as deputy director from August 1994 then as full director from August 1995 to March 1999. In this position, she helped small businesses, especially minority-owned communications firms, gain greater access to FCC licensing. "For her distinguished public service, Sandoval received the FCC Chairman's Special Achievement Award in 1997, and the 1998 Patrice Johnson Award for Excellence in Public Service from the National Association of Black Telecommunications Professionals."
Sandoval worked in the private sector from 1999 to 2001, serving as vice president and general counsel for Z-Spanish Media Corporation, a conglomerate of Spanish-language radio stations, news outlets and outdoor advertising. During this time, Z-Spanish Media was sold to Spanish-language broadcaster Entravision Communications
for approximately $448 million.
From 2001 to 2004, Sandoval was an undersecretary with the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
, serving as senior policy advisor for housing. In 2002, she stopped practicing as an attorney.
In 2004, Sandoval joined the faculty of Santa Clara University School of Law
as a tenure-track professor, teaching telecommunications law, antitrust law, and contract law. She researched and published studies examining minority and female ownership in media. For the school year 2011–2012, Sandoval is on sabbatical.
named Sandoval to a six-year position as one of five commissioners on the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC), based in San Francisco. She is the first Hispanic to serve on the CPUC. The board oversees rates and rules for privately owned electric, gas, water, telecommunications, rail and passenger transportation utilities. She and the CPUC have been tasked with beginning the process of increasing the ratio of renewable energy
use in California to 33% of total energy consumption by 2020.
Sandoval convened hearings for the purpose of questioning the proposed merger of AT&T
and T-Mobile
which would combine their customer base encompassing 47% of California's mobile phone market. Sandoval asked penetrating questions to determine whether the merger would violate antitrust laws. The hearings were seen as creating a precedent which would inform federal investigators seeking to block the merger, according to Dan Morain, columnist for the Sacramento Bee.
, with her husband Steve Smith.
Sandoval has been involved with nonprofit organizations, including Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional
which was formed to help U.S. Latinas seeking higher education. A similar group—Olga Talamante
's Chicana/Latina Foundation—honored Sandoval with its Legacy Award in 2011. Diplomat Vilma Socorro Martínez
and Judge Dorothy W. Nelson are two of Sandoval's heroes.
California Public Utilities Commission
The California Public Utilities Commission is a regulatory agency which regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies...
. Sandoval is a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law
The Santa Clara University School of Law is the law school of Santa Clara University, a Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, in the Silicon Valley region. The School of Law was founded in 1911...
. In 1984, she was the first Latina Rhodes scholar
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
.
Early life
Sandoval was born in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, to Vernon Kissee, a court reporter from Missouri, and Helen Sandoval; a woman born in Mexico and raised in Arizona. Along with an older and a younger sister, Sandoval was brought up in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles.
In a Los Angeles Times opinion article, she recalled in 1991 that her elementary school, Dacotah Street School (now Christopher Dena Elementary School), was 95% Hispanic and that:
While I was in the first grade, the principal somehow determined that all the students were mentally retarded. Working with other parents, my mother and father fought the label and got the state to test us. The tests revealed that few, if any, of us were "retarded" and some were gifted. I shudder to think about how things would have turned out if our parents had not fought that "retarded" label.
Sandoval's family moved a few miles eastward to Montebello
Montebello, California
Montebello is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the southwestern part of the San Gabriel Valley. It is located on of land just east of downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities, and the city is a member of the Gateway Cities Council of...
, where she attended Eastmont Intermediate School and Schurr High School
Schurr High School
Schurr High School is a secondary school in the Montebello Unified School District, located at 820 North Wilcox Avenue, Montebello, California, 90640. Students attending this school live in the Montebello-Monterey Park area.-History:...
.
Education
Sandoval entered Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1980. She served on the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee where she noted that about 35% of the Hispanic students at Yale dropped out, compared to only 5% of the total student population. In 1984 she graduated magna cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
with a bachelor of arts degree in Latin American Studies. Encouraged by her teachers and a Rhodes scholar, she applied for and received a Rhodes scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
—the first female Latin-American recipient. Sandoval entered Oxford University in October 1984 on her scholarship and studied global politics, forming a thesis regarding U.S. and Western European policy toward Nicaragua and El Salvador. In 1986, she studied the record of Latinos enrolled in Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
schools. She rowed on the crew team and she lettered in varsity basketball. In 1987, she left Oxford for Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law...
. There, she served on the Stanford Law Review
Stanford Law Review
The Stanford Law Review is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president...
and the Stanford Journal of International Law. Sandoval co-chaired the Stanford Latino Law Students Association. In 1990 after three years at Stanford, she completed the thesis work she had started as a Rhodes scholar, and was awarded a Master of Letters
Master of Letters
The Master of Letters is a postgraduate degree.- United Kingdom :The MLitt is a postgraduate degree awarded by a select few British and Irish universities, predominantly within the ancient English and Scottish universities.- England :Within the English University system MLitts are not universally...
in Politics from Oxford. The same year, she earned a law degree from Stanford Law School.
Career
Following Stanford, Sandoval served for a year in PasadenaPasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
as law clerk to Judge Dorothy Wright Nelson
Dorothy Wright Nelson
-Biography:Born in San Pedro, California, Nelson received an A.B. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1950, a J.D. from University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law in 1953, and an LL.M. from the University of Southern California Law School in 1956. She was a Research...
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
. After being admitted to the State Bar of California
State Bar of California
The State Bar of California is California's official bar association. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, and prescribing appropriate discipline...
in July 1991, Sandoval was an associate litigator of Munger, Tolles & Olson
Munger, Tolles & Olson
Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP is a California law firm that has offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Charles Munger founded the firm in 1962 with six other lawyers.-Legal practice:...
, a law firm in Los Angeles. As a board member of the Villa Malaga Housing Corporation, she managed a $2 million project funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
(HUD) which provided housing for people with disabilities
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
in East Los Angeles. Sandoval served on the Los Angeles County Commission on Judicial Procedures, and she co-chaired the Subcommittee on Rating and Underwriting, part of the California Insurance Commission's Anti-Discrimination Task Force under John Garamendi
John Garamendi
John Raymond Garamendi is the U.S. Representative for , serving since November 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Garamendi was the California State Insurance Commissioner from 1991 to 1995, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 1995 to 1998, and the California State Insurance...
.
In March 1994, Sandoval was named Special Assistant to the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC), working in the FCC's Office of International Communications, overseeing FCC policy in Latin America and developing countries. She directed the FCC's Office of Communications Business Opportunities as deputy director from August 1994 then as full director from August 1995 to March 1999. In this position, she helped small businesses, especially minority-owned communications firms, gain greater access to FCC licensing. "For her distinguished public service, Sandoval received the FCC Chairman's Special Achievement Award in 1997, and the 1998 Patrice Johnson Award for Excellence in Public Service from the National Association of Black Telecommunications Professionals."
Sandoval worked in the private sector from 1999 to 2001, serving as vice president and general counsel for Z-Spanish Media Corporation, a conglomerate of Spanish-language radio stations, news outlets and outdoor advertising. During this time, Z-Spanish Media was sold to Spanish-language broadcaster Entravision Communications
Entravision Communications
Entravision Communications Corporation is a media company based in Santa Monica, California. Entravision primarily caters to the Spanish-speaking Hispanic community and owns television and radio stations and outdoor media, in several of the top Hispanic markets. They are the largest affiliate...
for approximately $448 million.
From 2001 to 2004, Sandoval was an undersecretary with the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
The California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency is a state cabinet-level agency in the government of California. The Business, Transportation and Housing Agency is responsible for oversight of 14 offices and departments and four economic development programs and initiatives within the...
, serving as senior policy advisor for housing. In 2002, she stopped practicing as an attorney.
In 2004, Sandoval joined the faculty of Santa Clara University School of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law
The Santa Clara University School of Law is the law school of Santa Clara University, a Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, in the Silicon Valley region. The School of Law was founded in 1911...
as a tenure-track professor, teaching telecommunications law, antitrust law, and contract law. She researched and published studies examining minority and female ownership in media. For the school year 2011–2012, Sandoval is on sabbatical.
California Public Utilities
In January 2011, California Governor Jerry BrownJerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
named Sandoval to a six-year position as one of five commissioners on the California Public Utilities Commission
California Public Utilities Commission
The California Public Utilities Commission is a regulatory agency which regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies...
(CPUC), based in San Francisco. She is the first Hispanic to serve on the CPUC. The board oversees rates and rules for privately owned electric, gas, water, telecommunications, rail and passenger transportation utilities. She and the CPUC have been tasked with beginning the process of increasing the ratio of renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
use in California to 33% of total energy consumption by 2020.
Sandoval convened hearings for the purpose of questioning the proposed merger of AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
and T-Mobile
T-Mobile
T-Mobile International AG is a German-based holding company for Deutsche Telekom AG's various mobile communications subsidiaries outside Germany. Based in Bonn, Germany, its subsidiaries operate GSM and UMTS-based cellular networks in Europe, the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
which would combine their customer base encompassing 47% of California's mobile phone market. Sandoval asked penetrating questions to determine whether the merger would violate antitrust laws. The hearings were seen as creating a precedent which would inform federal investigators seeking to block the merger, according to Dan Morain, columnist for the Sacramento Bee.
Personal life
Sandoval lives in Campbell, CaliforniaCampbell, California
Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, a suburb of San Jose, and part of Silicon Valley, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 39,349...
, with her husband Steve Smith.
Sandoval has been involved with nonprofit organizations, including Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional
Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional
The Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional , is a Chicano organization geared towards the political and economic empowerment of Hispanic women, particularly Chicanas, in the United States....
which was formed to help U.S. Latinas seeking higher education. A similar group—Olga Talamante
Olga Talamante
Olga Talamante is a Chicana political activist and the current executive director of the California-based Chicana/Latina Foundation. She could be Cecily Talamante's ancestor-Early life:...
's Chicana/Latina Foundation—honored Sandoval with its Legacy Award in 2011. Diplomat Vilma Socorro Martínez
Vilma Socorro Martínez
Vilma Socorro Martínez is an American lawyer, civil rights activist and diplomat currently serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina. She is the first woman to hold this position.-Life and career:...
and Judge Dorothy W. Nelson are two of Sandoval's heroes.
External links
- News article from 1983 including a photo of Sandoval and her parents
- C-SPAN video from 1996, an open forum hosted by the FCC
- C-SPAN video from 1999 regarding minority ownership and management in media