Dr. Cirian Villavicencio

Prior to attaining a full-time position at San Joaquin Delta College, Cirian was a political science part-time instructor at American River and Folsom Lake Colleges in Sacramento, California. He was a faculty intern for the Los Rios Faculty Diversity Internship Program. 

Active in politics, Cirian interned for the late Congressman Tom Lantos (12th-CA) and served as a staffer for the California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus in the State Capitol. He worked on political campaigns including Steve Westly for Governor and Obama for America. He briefly served on the Sacramento County Democratic Central Committee and was elected as a state delegate twice to the California Democratic State Convention in 2009-10 and in 2016-18.  

Active in national politics, Cirian was also elected twice as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in support of Barack Obama in Denver, Colorado in 2008, and in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2012. In 2013 and 2017, he represented San Joaquin Delta College as a delegate to the National Education Association (NEA) Representative Assembly where he helped craft and vote for policy that affected 3.2 million teachers. Locally, he served as a deputy foreman for a federal criminal grand jury for the U.S. Eastern District Court and served as a citizen member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee (EEOAC) for Sacramento County.  

In 2014, Cirian was appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. to serve on the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA) whose mission serves to elevate the political, economic, and social issues of California Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). In 2022, Cirian was reappointed for a second term by Governor Gavin Newsom. In 2016-2017, Cirian served as CAPIAA’s chair and under his leadership helped pass data disaggregation legislation for the AAPI community, human trafficking legislation, and helped advocate for Filipino WWII Veterans to receive the Congressional Gold Medal. Cirian currently serves as Chair of CAPIAA’s Higher Education Committee and led the effort to secure $16 million ongoing state funding for California Community Colleges and California State Universities to support the needs of first-generation, low income Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students. Cirian has also been quoted by the Associated Press, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee in his role as a state commissioner and the Stockton Record, Lodi News-Sentinel, and ABC10 in Sacramento as a political analyst.  

Cirian’s campus responsibilities include serving as Co-Chair of the Department of Political Science; he is a pioneer faculty member for the Empowering Positive Initiative for Change (EPIC) Learning Community that serves the college’s AANHPI students; he serves on the Cultural Awareness Program and Student Success & Equity Committee. He also served as the president of the Asian Pacific Islander American Staff Association (2019-2022) and as the Co-Chair of the Faculty Caucus for Asian Pacific Equity (FCAPE) from 2021-2022. Cirian was integral in securing both the Asian American, Native American, Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) federal collaborative and institutional grants that awarded San Joaquin Delta College $2 million to support the needs of the district’s AANHPI students. In 2020, Cirian received the Distinguished Faculty Award from San Joaquin Delta College’s Academic Senate given to faculty for their outstanding teaching and community service. 

In the community, Cirian serves as a Board of Director and Endorsement Chair for the Sacramento Filipino Political Action Committee and is a member of the Faculty Association for California Community Colleges. He received B.A. Degrees in History and Political Science, graduating with honors from the University of California, Davis. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and earned his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and specialized in the areas of political management. He completed his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) at the University of Wyoming where he specialized in the area of Higher Education Administration. Cirian is married to his wife, Cheryl, a fourth-grade teacher. They have two children, Annie and John. The Villavicencio's are active in their church, love to travel, ride on roller coasters, scuba dive, hike, and enjoy everything Disney.  

Cirian teaches the following courses at San Joaquin Delta College: 

Academic Courses 

Political Science 1, American Government and Institutions
Political Science 2, Introduction to Comparative Politics
Political Science 6, International Political Economy 
Political Science 14, Political Science Study & Travel Abroad 

Research & Internship Seminars 

Political Science 50H, Advanced Research & Writing in Political Science 
Political Science 69V, Government Internship