Biography#

Fuentes was a Senior Fellow with The Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy. He was a director of Eagle Publishing, Inc., in Washington, D.C. President George W. Bush appointed him to his Administration as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation. Speaker Dennis Hastert of the United States House of Representatives first appointed Trustee Fuentes in 2006 to serve as his designee on the Board of Advisors of the United States Elections Assistance Commission in Washington, D.C. The federal panel oversees the expenditure of Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds across the nation. House Minority Leader, the Honorable John Beohner of Ohio, re-appointed Mr. Fuentes to the Board.

Fuentes was the Chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County from 1984 to 2004. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Conservative Campaign Fund in Washington, D.C. He had been the Chairman of the Board of Counselors of Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Claremont Institute, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Phillips Foundation.

Fuentes was the founding Chairman Emeritus of the Second Harvest Orange County Food Bank of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and he was a Knight of Malta.

Fuentes graduated from Santa Ana College, where he twice served as student body president. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Government from Chapman University and pursued post-graduate studies at Loyola Marymount University and St. Patrick's Seminary. He held a degree of Doctor of Business Administration Honoris Causa from Pacific States University in Los Angeles. Trustee Fuentes guest lectured at the Masters of Business Administration program at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the topic of "Leadership".

On Feb. 28, 2005, Fuentes persuaded four colleagues on the Board of Trustees to cancel Saddleback College's summer study-abroad program to Spain because the country had pulled its troops from Iraq. The decision drew national ridicule and outraged the locals; under heavy pressure, the SOCCCD board rescinded his decision on March 22 by a 5-2 vote.

Tom Fuentes died of cancer in May, 2012.

Social Media#

Offices Held#

• 1984-2004 OCGOP Chair
• 2000 SOCCCD Area 6
• 2004 SOCCCD Area 6
• 2008 SOCCCD Area 6

Candidacies#

Articles and Sources#

• SOCCCD
• The Fuentes Files
• Tom Fuentes, (March 31, 2005)