Forty-five Years at Cal Poly

This year we celebrate Professor Allen Settle’s
remarkable service to Cal Poly. The faculty, staff
and students thank him for all he has done for the
POLS Department, Cal Poly and the community.

This year we celebrate Professor Allen Settle’s 45th year of service to Cal Poly. Settle was one of the first faculty members hired after political science became a stand-alone degree at Cal Poly. He has provided crucial institutional memory and continuity across several decades of rapid change, both within the department and across the university. In addition to serving four terms as mayor of San Luis Obispo and five terms as a city council member, Settle has served on the Airport Land Use Commission, the Local Agency Formation Committee, and the League of Cities Revenue and Taxation Committee.

Settle’s acumen about the workings of local government and the practice of politics have provided abundant fodder for classroom experiences and learning. Students regularly comment on his passion for and knowledge about politics, and his ability to make politics and political science “real” in the classroom. Settle’s life and career at Cal Poly epitomize Learn by Doing as well as a well-lived life.