CSULB 49er Foundation board welcomes Barcinas '09, Rodriguez ‘84
A utility executive and a legal scholar – both of whom are Cal State Long Beach alumni – have joined the 49er Foundation’s governing board.
The new board members are Rosalie Barcinas '09 and Daniel B. Rodriguez ‘84, both of whom completed their undergraduate degrees at The Beach and have risen to leadership in their chosen professions. As members of the 49er Foundation Board of Directors, Barcinas and Rodriguez will serve three-year terms alongside campus leaders and accomplished alumni who determine how the campus manages its endowment and philanthropic fundraising.
Barcinas earned her Bachelor of Science in mathematics in 2009 and has served in several management roles at electric utility Southern California Edison. Rodriguez obtained his Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1984 before completing law school and holding several academic posts, including his current role as a law professor at Northwestern University. Their new board colleagues approved their appointments in mid-June.
Barcinas’ career with Southern California Edison spans more than 27 years, and she is now its director of electrification and customer services policy. She previously served as the director of Catalina operations and strategy, managing energy and water distribution to Santa Catalina Island communities. Over the course of her career, Barcinas has taken on responsibilities involving strategy, policy development, external relations, permitting, and land rights management. She also contributes to Southern California Edison’s work to promote diversity, equity and inclusion within the firm.
Rodriguez, who the College of Liberal Arts honored as a member of its Distinguished Alumni in 2000, also attended Harvard Law. He obtained a faculty post at UC Berkeley’s law school in 1988 and remained there for a decade before serving as dean and professor at UC San Diego’s law school from 1998 to 2005.
Before taking his current position as Harold Washington Professor at Northwestern in 2012, Rodriguez held academic positions at University of San Diego, Rice University, and University of Texas at Austin. He also served as dean at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law from 2012 to 2018.
The foundation’s board also welcomed another two members who joined by virtue of their positions with faculty and student government. English faculty member Neil Hultgren, elected as Academic Senate chair for the 2024-25 school year, and incoming Associated Students, Inc. President Nikki Majidi have also joined the Foundation’s board.
Hultgren teaches courses on subjects including Victorian literature and post-colonial studies. Majidi is majoring in political science while minoring in international economics.
