Ruben Mendoza (rmendoza)

Rubén G. Mendoza is an archaeologist, writer, photographer and founding faculty member of the California State University, Monterey Bay. He is Chair of the School of Social, Behavioral and Global Studies, and has served the students of CSUMB since 1995. He has directed major archaeological and ethnohistorical investigations on the Colorado Front Range, the Mexican states of Guanajuato and Puebla, and the Spanish and Indian missions of California, including San Juan Bautista, San Carlos Borromeo, San Miguel Arcángel, and La Soledad. His groundbreaking work at the Spanish Royal Presidio of Monterey resulted in the discovery of the Serra Chapels of 1770 and 1772. Awarded the California Preservation Foundation “Preservation Design Award” in 2009, he has served as a lead consultant on the UNESCO World Heritage List nominations process for the San Antonio Missions of Texas in 2012. More recently, he was an invited participant and guest of the Papal See for the Serra Symposium convened in Vatican City in 2015.