By snoadmin
Friends, family and community members gathered in a ceremony to share personal memories of Steve Horn’s accomplishments and influence throughout his career.
As the former Cal State Long Beach president and a Republican U.S. Congressman, Horn was commemorated as a friend, mentor, father and husband at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on April 30.
Among the speakers were CSULB President F. King Alexander, Karl Anatol and Horn’s wife, Nini Horn.
During his 18 years as the university president, which he served from 1970 to 1988, Horn revolutionized the CSULB campus.
“His impact can be found everywhere, from former students to current students,” Alexander said. “The students of today benefit the greatest from his tenure at the university.”
Horn reformed the university’s general education and graduation requirements to encourage cultural literacy and interdisciplinary studies. In addition, he started the first-ever mandatory course for incoming students that helped explain the university’s mission.
Former CSULB Vice President of Student Services Jack Shainline remembered Horn by his unrelenting “insistence on excellence.”
“What impressed me most about Steve Horn was his confidence and his pompous,” he said. “He understood that the destiny of this campus, this college, this university, is determined largely by the efficiencies of its staff.”
Horn also felt a need to congratulate each student personally with a handshake during commencement, Shainline said.
“Many people did not know that he personally signed every diploma,” he said. “He wanted each student to get a personally signed diploma along with each handshake.”
In 1986, Horn was cited as “one of the top 100 most effective college presidents in the United States” in a sponsored study.
He was also a huge proponent of civil rights and supporter of the women’s movement.
“Civil rights was Dr. Horn’s earliest passion,” said Naomi Rainey, president of the Long Beach NAACP branch.
He was involved in negotiations that led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and helped write the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Rainey added.
“These are two of the most important pieces of legislation passed since the Civil War,” Rainey said.
As a moderate republican, Horn is recognized for his bipartisanship. He represented California’s 38th district and secured office in the typically liberal Long Beach from 1993-2003.
Steve Horn received his Bachelor of Arts in political science from Stanford University, a master’s in public administration from Harvard and a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford.
He died in his Long Beach home from complications due to Alzheimer’s. Horn is survived by his wife of 57 years Nini Horn, two children Marcia Horn and Steve Horn, Jr., and one grandson Jonathon Horn.
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russel George said Horn changed his life.
“I hope each of you has had the opportunity to have a person enter your life and change it in ways that you could never have imagined,” George said. “I certainly do.”
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