In celebration of their accomplishments in their respective fields and their service and support of the university, Cal State Fullerton is recognizing five Distinguished Alumni on Feb.28, as the 2026 CSUF Vision & Visionaries Award recipients.<\/p>\n
In fall 1983, Michael Losquadro took a job as a grill cook at Cal State Fullerton to help pay his way through school. After earning a business management degree in 1986, he embarked on a 30-plus year career in higher education advancement, serving in both the University of California and California State University systems. In 2021, he retired as senior adviser for campus advancement in the CSU Chancellor\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
Concurrent with his career path, Losquadro volunteered for more than 21 years with the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Department, retiring as a reserve lieutenant. Additionally, he has been a longtime advocate for the LGBTQ population, starting with his participation in CSUF\u2019s Gay Student Union and then later with the LGBTQ Center Orange County.<\/p>\n
In recognition of his work in higher education advancement, his commitment to the local LGBTQ community and his volunteer service with the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Department, Losquadro has been named a 2026 CSUF Vision & Visionaries Distinguished Alumni award winner.<\/p>\n
Raised in Orange County, Losquadro set his sights on college after graduating from Kennedy High School in La Palma. But with the reality of having to pay for his education, he knew staying close to home was a necessity and began searching for a nearby, affordable option. CSUF was the ideal solution. He majored in business management and got involved in organizations on campus such as the Gay Student Union and the Society for the Advancement of Management.<\/p>\n
But Losquadro\u2019s connection to the Titan community was rooted largely in campus employment. He started as a grill cook in campus dining, then rose to supervisor and manager. In that role, he helped support many significant and historic campus events, including when Titan Gym served as an official venue for team handball during the 1984 Summer Olympics, an experience that sparked a lifelong passion for the Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cFullerton gave me many opportunities that I would not have had otherwise,\u201d Losquadro said. \u201cBut they also allowed me to succeed or learn how to do something better. It was a great opportunity for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
After graduating, Losquadro stayed on with the food service company he worked for at CSUF and landed a position at UC Irvine. After a career pivot, he made his way back to UCI for a role in the University Advancement Division as the executive assistant to the chief development officer.<\/p>\n
Though he had no prior advancement experience, Losquadro discovered his passion for the field while at UCI, launching a career that would span several decades. Over 17 years, he rose to executive director before becoming associate vice president at Cal State Long Beach, where he led the development department, launched the university\u2019s first comprehensive campaign and established the Long Beach State Foundation.<\/p>\n
After 12 years at CSULB, Losquadro took what he called a \u201ccapstone role\u201d in the CSU Office of the Chancellor. He served as senior adviser to campus presidents on fundraising, foundation and board recruitment, and stepped in as interim vice president when a campus experienced a vacancy. It was the culmination of more than 30 years in the higher education advancement space.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved working with incredibly generous and visionary people,\u201d Losquadro said. \u201cAnd I worked to help them achieve their philanthropic goals while trying to figure out what the university\u2019s needs were. It was magic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Losquadro\u2019s decision to join the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Department Reserve Bureau came after 9\/11, when he decided he wanted to take action rather than sit on the sidelines. He was the first openly gay man to complete and graduate from the sheriff\u2019s academy, and during his 21-year career as a reserve, he was a member of the search and rescue unit.<\/p>\n
His commitment to the community did not end there. After coming out at 19, Losquadro joined CSUF\u2019s Gay Student Union and later became a leader, program facilitator, board member and donor at the LGBTQ Center Orange County. He has also organized political campaigns, met with elected officials and helped lead Orange County contingents to marches in Sacramento and Washington D.C.<\/p>\n
Losquadro and his husband, Dr. Brian C. Keller, recently committed a significant gift to the university that will establish student scholarships in the College of Business and Economics and provide long-term support for the newly renamed Losquadro Keller LGBTQ Resource Center at CSUF.<\/p>\n
Surprised and overwhelmed by the Vision & Visionaries honor, Losquadro is reluctant to call himself a visionary. What he does claim is determination \u2014\u00a0 the drive to carry an idea from concept to completion \u2014 a trait he credits to his time at CSUF.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think (being a Titan) means to be someone who is scrappy, who is determined, who wants to do better for society and wants to bring others along with them,\u201d Losquadro said. \u201cFullerton is where the rubber meets the road. It is not theoretical. It is practical. And we are changing lives one at a time in a very practical way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In celebration of their accomplishments in their respective fields and their service and support of the university, Cal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,2627,7,2628,2306,23,611,77],"class_list":{"0":"post-196785","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news","11":"tag-cal-state-fullerton","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-fullerton","14":"tag-higher-education","15":"tag-local-news","16":"tag-orange-county","17":"tag-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}