David Salazar
Class of ’90 Master of Urban & Regional Planning
Director of Facilities
Claremont Graduate University

David Salazar received a bachelor’s of arts in sociology from Cal State Long Beach in ’83, but found his true path in the urban & regional planning master’s program at Cal Poly Pomona. Currently he is the director of facilities for Claremont Graduate University, which is prized for its jewel-like setting in Claremont. His job duties are many.

“I manage and coordinate maintenance and the physical aspects of the university, as well as implementing its master plan,” says Salazar, who also works with the city of Claremont regarding capital planning, design and construction on campus.

One of his career highlights thus far is his role as the founding administrator and chief campus planner for Cal State Monterey Bay. Salazar helped plan the new campus, requiring constant interfacing with architects, landscape architects, engineers, and design and construction teams. Salazar brought this intense experience home to Cal Poly Pomona students when he taught an innovative interdisciplinary course on campus. The class, which focused on space planning, involved designing and developing a building for the College of Environmental Design. Student architects, landscape architects and planners worked together across the disciplines, receiving a strong understanding of what is necessary to create a building from the ground up.

“Students tend to congregate by discipline,” says Salazar, “but that was impossible to do for this project. Architects learned how to work with planners, and planners learned how to work with landscape architects. It was a real-world experience on a live project that gave students the opportunity to experience the type of teamwork necessary for real design projects.”

Salazar is member of the California Planning Roundtable and is a site visitor for the Planning Accreditation Board. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, the American Planning Association, and the Society for College and University Planning, among others. He maintains close ties with Cal Poly Pomona, serving as a lecturer for urban & regional planning, as well as participating in Professor for a Day and acting as chairman for the Alumni In-Reach Program.