skip to main content
Message from President Dr. Mark Rocha
Mark Rocha, Superintendent/President
Room: C235
Telephone: 626-585-7201
Email: mwrocha@pasadena.edu
Fax: 626-585-3117
Dr. Mark W. Rocha became the 12th Superintendent/President of Pasadena City College on July 1, 2010. During his tenure, the college has approved a new Educational Master Plan to develop the college as a truly global community college for the 21st century. Pasadena City College has embarked on an ambitious program to increase transfers and degree completion, upgrade instructional technology, reconnect to in-district high schools and support faculty in teaching excellence and innovation.
Dr. Rocha came to Pasadena City College from the Los Angeles Community College District where he served as president of West Los Angeles College. Under Dr. Rocha’s leadership, West Los Angeles College was recognized by the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the nation’s “Great Colleges to Work For.” Among his current service commitments, Dr. Rocha serves as a member of the Board of Councilors of the Rossier School of Education of the University of Southern California.
An English teacher by training, Dr. Rocha received his Ph.D. in English from the University of Southern California, his master’s degree from California State University, Fullerton, and his bachelor’s degree from Villanova University. His scholarly work is in the field of American drama and theater and includes numerous articles on the playwright August Wilson. In 1994, Dr. Rocha was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and taught for a year in Caracas, Venezuela at the Universidad Simon Bolivar.
Dr. Rocha has two sons, Brendan, 20, and Samuel, 15, and resides in Pasadena with his wife Nancy. An avid runner, Dr. Rocha finished the inaugural Pasadena Marathon 2009.