Samuel M. Ciccati

OBITUARY

Dr. Samuel Ciccati, President Emeritus of Cuyamaca College was a resident of San Diego County for seventy years. He was the ninth of 12 children, six boys and six girls, born to immigrant parents, Ermenegildo and Anna Ciccati. He was born and raised in Lorain, Ohio. With his family, he moved to San Diego in 1956 after his father retired. Samuel attended San Diego City College part-time while employed full-time at the San Diego Gas and Electric Company. In 1958, he enrolled at San Diego State College and graduated with honors in 1961.

Soon thereafter, Samuel began his teaching career at El Capitan High School in Lakeside, California. He continued graduate studies at San Diego State, completing the requirements for a counseling credential, administrative credential, and then a Masters Degree in 1966. He earned his doctorate from the United States International University in 1970.

Dr. Ciccati joined the counseling faculty at Grossmont College in 1969 and moved through the administrative ranks as counseling department chairman, vice president for student services from 1976 – 1982 and vice president for instruction and student services from 1982 – 84. He was named President of Cuyamaca College in 1984 and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1993.

Dr. Ciccati was instrumental in the growth and development of Cuyamaca College. Among the projects completed or funded during his tenure were the Learning Resource Center, the Heritage of the Americas Museum, the indoor and outdoor physical education facilities, and the new entrance to the college from Fury Lane. In addition, he worked out an agreement with Jones Intercable, later bought out by Cox Cable, to wire all rooms on the campus, including future campus buildings, with closed TV access and to provide the college with free access to the local educational TV channel.

Dr. Ciccati expanded the general education program of the college and implemented numerous contemporary degree programs including small business management, landscape management, and environmental hazardous materials technology. Under his guidance, the college expanded services to meet community needs with the advent of telecourses and the Weekend College. In addition, in concert with the automotive technology coordinator, he worked out an agreement with Ford Motor Company of Detroit to establish the Ford Asset Program to train technicians for Ford dealerships in San Diego County. Dr. Ciccati was also instrumental in working out the agreement to build the Water Conservation Garden on the Cuyamaca College campus.

Dr. Ciccati continued to be supportive of the college, and education in general, long after his retirement. He served as a member and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Heritage of the Americas Museum for 15 years, and as a member of the steering committee for the Water Conservation Garden. He endowed one perpetual scholarship at Grossmont College, three at Cuyamaca College, and at San Diego State University he endowed four scholarships in the College of Education and one in Men’s basketball. At the Monarch school, a school for homeless children in San Diego, he endowed a scholarship for seniors continuing on to college. Dr. Ciccati and his wife, Kristine, also endowed a scholarship at San Diego State University to support teaching credential students in the College of Education who are committed to Black Excellence in education and want to become elementary school teachers themselves.

As a result of his contributions and philanthropy Dr. Ciccati has received numerous recognitions. The Anthropology wing of the Heritage of the Americas Museum is named in his honor; he was an original inductee into the Cuyamaca College Honor Court; his establishment of an endowment for the Water Conservation Garden resulted in the Water Conservation Education Center being named in his honor; additionally the Performing Arts Center at Cuyamaca College, as well as the Theatre inside the Center, carry his name as a result of an endowment he established which will fund student scholarships in perpetuity. His name is also on the honor wall on Campanile Drive on the SDSU campus.

Dr. Ciccati was active in numerous professional and civic organizations. During his presidency he served on the statewide community colleges CEO Board of Directors, the State Chancellors Executive Council, and was a member on the Accrediting Commission for Community Colleges. He served as a member of, or chaired, nine accreditation visiting teams to community colleges in California and Hawaii during his career. Dr. Ciccati was also on the Board of Directors of Valle de Oro Bank, and at one time or another was a member and president of the Rancho San Diego/Spring Valley Rotary, in which he was a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. Samuel Ciccati was also on the Board of Directors of the Heartland Human Relations Association as well as East County Mental Health. He also served on seven juries during his lifetime and was selected to be jury foreman on four of them.

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During the summers of 1968 through 1971, Dr. Ciccati worked as a consultant to the U.S. Peace Corps and assisted in training volunteers for Ethiopia, Guyana, eastern Caribbean, and Kenya. He was an avid traveler and visited more than 130 countries in his lifetime.

Dr. Ciccati is survived by his wife Kristine, two stepchildren, Eric (Shelley) and Alison (Jimmy), and five step-grandchildren, James, Kristopher, Jordan, Claire and Juliette as well as his brother David R. Ciccati, his sister Marlene Ciccati, and twenty-four nieces and nephews.

Dr. Ciccati was cremated and his ashes have been scattered at sea. At his request, there were no services.