Salvador Aceves is back on home turf, and this time he has the keys to the Hilltop. The longtime Jesuit-university administrator and University of San Francisco alumnus has been tapped as the school’s 29th president, its first layperson and the first Latino to ever hold the job. Trustees and alumni say the move feels less like a corporate hire and more like a hometown kid coming back to run the family business.
Homegrown Roots And A Local Return
Aceves grew up in the city he now helps lead academically. Born in the Mission District and raised in the Excelsior, he rode the 14-Mission Muni line to Sacred Heart High School before heading up the hill to USF, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He is the son of immigrants from Guadalajara; his father worked in a warehouse and belonged to ILWU Local 6, and his mother taught school. Community members say those working-class, immigrant roots are a big part of why his selection lands as a symbolic homecoming for a campus that sees itself as woven into the life of the city.
Why Trustees Picked Him
The USF Board of Trustees said it zeroed in on Aceves because the university needed a leader with serious business chops to steer a complex institution with a roughly $500 million budget, according to the University of San Francisco. The university notes that Aceves earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from USF in 1983 and a doctor of education in 1995, was elected by the board in May 2025 and took office later that year. Trustees pointed to his track record managing operations and budgets as a central reason they felt comfortable handing him the reins.
From Fordham To Regis And Back
Before his return to San Francisco, Aceves logged more than a decade at Regis University, where he moved up from senior vice president and chief financial officer to president in 2023, according to Regis University. Earlier in his career, he held senior administrative and faculty positions at Fordham. At Regis, he was credited with careful fiscal stewardship and with leading efforts focused on access for Hispanic students. Those operational and equity-minded credentials were a major part of what caught the attention of USF trustees.
Mission-Forward, But Financially Grounded
Aceves has signaled that he intends to balance the books without losing the Jesuit soul of the place. He told the USF community that his work has been shaped by nearly four decades in Jesuit Catholic education and that returning to San Francisco felt like a homecoming, according to the University of San Francisco. He has emphasized that a Jesuit education should link academic skills with service and ethical formation, themes he has returned to repeatedly since assuming the presidency. His inauguration drew alumni, city leaders and faculty to St. Ignatius Church for a ceremony last fall.
What It Means For The City
Local leaders say Aceves’ appointment puts a native San Franciscan at the helm of an institution that helps supply the city with lawyers, health care professionals and civic leaders. With his background as a first-generation college student and as an administrator with deep financial experience, trustees and community advocates believe he is well-positioned to strengthen USF’s neighborhood ties while guiding the university through the financial and practical headwinds facing private higher education.
