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Fernando Soriano
Fernando Soriano, Faculty/Staff
Fernando Soriano is a resident of La Jolla and as a member of the Pastoral Council (PC) for the Newman Center Catholic Community at UCSD he represents the faculty. He has been a professor at various academic institutions, including at the University of Missouri and at Stanford University. He is a psychologist by training and is currently professor of Human Development at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM). While at CSUSM he also collaborates with research faculty from UCSD primarily at the Medical School through the division of Community Pediatrics. His research specialty is in youth violence and youth violence prevention among adolescents. He does most of his research through the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center at Rady’s Children’s Hospital in San Diego where he is a Research Scientist. He personally likes to be involved in different ministries that help underprivileged and underserved populations, particularly those benefiting youth. He was recently appointed to the San Diego County Juvenile Justice Commission. Besides being on the PC for the Newman Center, he is also currently serving as coordinator of the Storefront Ministry offered through the Center. This ministry prepares dinner the first Sunday of every month for homeless teens living in the shelter called the Storefront. He is also the point of contact for those interested in the prison ministry. While on the Pastoral Council, he hopes to help strengthen the linkages between faculty and students, and to serve as support and a source of encouragement to undergraduate and graduate students, but also to post docs who attend the Newman Center. He invites students and post docs to contact him if they simply wish to talk and share their aspirations and challenges. In terms of hobbies and past-times, he loves to dance salsa and other Latin dances. He also enjoys learning to cook and to cook with others for fun. Besides cooking, he is at home in nature, hiking, camping, swimming and jogging. He travels frequently and enjoys learning about different countries, cultures and peoples through his travels. As a second year member of the Council, he is anxious to join others on the Council to help the Newman Catholic Community at UCSD to become an inviting, warm, supportive, cohesive and caring community to its members and to the surrounding community. He loves the emphasis on social justice that the Newman Center is committed to, which he feels is so desperately needed within our faith, government and within our nation as a whole.
