Ralph C. Guzmán

Ralph C. Guzmán (1924-October 10, 1985, born Rafael Cortez Guzmán) served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of Latin America in the Carter Administration and was one of the nation's leading Latino educators. He co-founded the Oakes College at the University of California at Santa Cruz and later was appointed Provost at UCSC's Merrill College. Guzmán played an influential role in the early years of the Chicano Movement, and was a key figure in the Mexican-American community nationwide. During his time in the State Department, he was responsible for formulating and implementing much of the nation's policy in Central and South America.

Born in Moroleon, Guanajuato in 1924, Rafael Cortez Guzmán immigrated to the U.S. as a child during the Depression, and worked for several years with his family in the fields of the Southwest before settling in East Los Angeles. He served in the Merchant Marines and Navy during World War II, participating in the final assault on Okinawa, and returned to complete an A.A. at East Los Angeles Junior College under the G.I. Bill in 1949.

After the war, he enrolled at California State University, Los Angeles, where he earned bachelor's (1958) and master's (1960) degrees in political science. In 1955 he was named director of the Alianza Hispano-Americana's (a Mexican American fraternal insurance society) newly founded civil rights department, where he cultivated his skill in developing community support organizations. Along with Fred Ross Sr. and Congressman Edward R. Roybal, Guzmán assisted in the founding of the Community Service Organization in the Los Angeles area.