Catherine Sandoval

Sandoval was born in Los Angeles, California, to Vernon Kissee, a court reporter from Missouri, and Helen Sandoval; a woman born and raised in Arizona. Her maternal grandfather was born in Guanajuato, Mexico. Along with an older and a younger sister, Sandoval was brought up in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-10-me-10289-story.html |title=A Washington Post for a Woman Going Places |last=Ramos |first=George |date=January 10, 1994 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=October 17, 2011}}

In a Los Angeles Times opinion article, she recalled in 1991 that her elementary school, Dacotah Street School (now Christopher Dena Elementary School{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-03-me-9015-story.html |title=At Dena Elementary, a Special Teacher's Memory Lives On |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 3, 1995 |last=Hernandez |first=Efrain Jr.}}), was 95% Hispanic and that:

While I was in the first grade, the principal somehow determined that all the students were mentally retarded. Working with other parents, my mother and father fought the label and got the state to test us. The tests revealed that few, if any, of us were "retarded" and some were gifted. I shudder to think about how things would have turned out if our parents had not fought that "retarded" label.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-06-13-ti-535-story.html |title=The Long Road From East L.A. to Yale, Oxford |last=Kissee-Sandoval |first=Catherine |date=June 13, 1991 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=October 15, 2011}}

Sandoval's family moved a few miles eastward to Montebello, where she attended Eastmont Intermediate School and Schurr High School.

Sandoval entered Yale University in 1978. She served on the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee where she noted that about 35% of the Hispanic students at Yale dropped out, compared to only 5% of the total student population. In 1984 she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American Studies.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/26/idUS171493+26-Jan-2011+BW20110126 |title=Santa Clara University Law Professor Catherine Sandoval Named Commissioner of CPUC |work=Reuters |date=January 26, 2011 |access-date=June 30, 2017 |archive-date=February 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201105759/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/26/idUS171493+26-Jan-2011+BW20110126 }} Encouraged by her teachers and a Rhodes scholar, she applied for and received a Rhodes scholarship—the first female Latin-American recipient.{{cite journal |url=http://www.latinojournal.biz/ |title=Catherine Sandoval, J.D., Law Professor: First Hispanic to serve on the powerful California Public Utilities Commission |journal=Latino Journal |location=Sacramento, California |publisher=California Magazine, Inc. |access-date=October 15, 2011}}{{cite journal |url=http://latinastyle.com/magazine/issue-17/2/columns-departaments/latinas-today/1/ |title=Latinas Today: Catherine J.K. Sandoval |journal=Latina Style Magazine |volume=17 |number=1 |location=Falls Church, Virginia |access-date=October 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425065203/http://latinastyle.com/magazine/issue-17/2/columns-departaments/latinas-today/1/ |archive-date=April 25, 2012 }} Sandoval entered Oxford University in October 1984 on her scholarship and studied global politics, forming a thesis regarding U.S. and Western European policy toward Nicaragua and El Salvador. In 1983–84, she studied the record of Latinos enrolled in Ivy League schools.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-06-mn-22748-story.html |title=Minority Students: Alienation and Failure in Academia |last=Smith |first=Lynn |date=January 6, 1988 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=October 15, 2011}} At Oxford, she rowed on the crew team and she lettered in varsity basketball. In 1987, she left Oxford for Stanford Law School. There, she served on the Stanford Law Review and the Stanford Journal of International Law. Sandoval co-chaired the Stanford Latino Law Students Association.{{cite web |url=http://transition.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/nrmc4012.txt |title=Catherine J. Kissee-Sandoval named Special Assistant |date=March 3, 1994 |work=Office of Internal Communications, FCC |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |access-date=October 15, 2011}} In 1990 after three years at Stanford, she completed the thesis work she had started as a Rhodes scholar, and was awarded a Master of Letters in Politics from Oxford.{{cite web |url=http://law.scu.edu/faculty/profile/sandoval-catherine.cfm |title=Catherine J. K. Sandoval: Associate Professor of Law |work=Santa Clara Law |publisher=Santa Clara University |access-date=October 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026102735/http://law.scu.edu/faculty/profile/sandoval-catherine.cfm |archive-date=October 26, 2011 }} The same year, she earned a J.D. degree from Stanford Law School.

Following Stanford, Sandoval served for a year in Pasadena as law clerk to Judge Dorothy Wright Nelson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.{{cite web |url=http://www.metnews.com/articles/2011/appt012611.htm |title=Governor Taps Two Attorneys for Public Utilities Commission |date=January 26, 2011 |work=Metropolitan News-Enterprise |publisher=Metropolitan News Company |access-date=October 15, 2011 |location=Los Angeles}} After being admitted to the State Bar of California in July 1991, Sandoval was an associate litigator of Munger, Tolles & Olson, a law firm in Los Angeles.{{cite web |url=http://www.caldir.com/lawyers/California/Santa-Clara/95053/iahj/Catherine-Janet-Kissee-Sandoval.html |title=Catherine Janet Kissee-Sandoval |work=CalDir.com |publisher=eConnect |access-date=October 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403000117/http://www.caldir.com/lawyers/California/Santa-Clara/95053/iahj/Catherine-Janet-Kissee-Sandoval.html |archive-date=April 3, 2012 }} As a board member of the Villa Malaga Housing Corporation, she managed a $2 million project funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which provided housing for people with disabilities in East Los Angeles. Sandoval served on the Los Angeles County Commission on Judicial Procedures, and she co-chaired the Subcommittee on Rating and Underwriting, part of the California Insurance Commission's Anti-Discrimination Task Force under John Garamendi.

In March 1994, Sandoval was named Special Assistant to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), working in the FCC's Office of International Communications, overseeing FCC policy in Latin America and developing countries. She directed the FCC's Office of Communications Business Opportunities as deputy director from August 1994 then as full director from August 1995 to March 1999. In this position, she helped small businesses, especially minority-owned communications firms, gain greater access to FCC licensing. "For her distinguished public service, Sandoval received the FCC Chairman's Special Achievement Award in 1997, and the 1998 Patrice Johnson Award for Excellence in Public Service from the National Association of Black Telecommunications Professionals."{{cite web |url=http://transition.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/1999/nrmc9009.txt |title=OCBO Director, Catherine J. K. Sandoval to leave the Commission |date=March 2, 1999 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |access-date=October 15, 2011}}

Sandoval worked in the private sector from 1999 to 2001, serving as vice president and general counsel for Z-Spanish Media Corporation, a conglomerate of Spanish-language radio stations, news outlets and outdoor advertising. During this time, Z-Spanish Media was sold to Spanish-language broadcaster Entravision Communications for approximately $448 million.{{cite web|url=http://www.entravision.com/ccbn_Template.cfm?ticker=EVC&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=128955|title=Entravision Communications Corporation Reports Third Quarter and First Nine Months 2000 Results|date=November 1, 2000|access-date=October 15, 2011|location=Santa Monica, California|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330150915/http://www.entravision.com/ccbn_Template.cfm?ticker=EVC&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=128955|archive-date=March 30, 2012}}

From 2001 to 2004, Sandoval was an undersecretary with the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, serving as senior policy advisor for housing.{{cite news |url=http://www.uniontribune.net/news/2011/jan/25/consumer-advocate-and-professor-to-PUC/ |title=Consumer advocate and professor join PUC |last=Soto |first=Onell R. |date=January 25, 2011 |work=The San Diego Union-Tribune |access-date=October 15, 2011}} Sandoval is currently an active member of the California Bar Association, and was admitted to membership in 1991 after passing the bar in fall 1990.

In 2004, Sandoval joined the faculty of Santa Clara University School of Law as a tenure-track professor, teaching telecommunications law, antitrust law, and contract law.{{cite web |url=http://www.theamericanlatina.com/2011/01/first-latina-on-utility-oversight.html |title=First Latina on utility oversight commission: Santa Clara University Law Professor Catherine Sandoval Named Commissioner of CPUC |date=January 27, 2011 |work=The American Latina |publisher=POP-9 Communications |access-date=October 15, 2011}} She researched and published studies examining minority and female ownership in media, antitrust, and communications law issues. For the school year 2012–2013, Sandoval is on a partial leave of absence from Santa Clara Law. During this time, Sandoval taught a course in telecommunications law at UC Berkeley School of Law.{{cite web|title=Berkeley Law Course Listings|url=http://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-programs/courses/coursePage.php?cID=10278&termCode=B&termYear=2013}}

In January 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown named Sandoval to a six-year position as one of five commissioners on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), based in San Francisco. She is the first female Hispanic to serve on the CPUC. The board oversees rates and rules for privately owned electric, gas, water, telecommunications, rail and passenger transportation utilities. She and the CPUC have been tasked with beginning the process of increasing the ratio of renewable energy use in California to 33% of total energy consumption by 2020.{{cite journal |url=http://www.scu.edu/scm/summer2011/call-her-commissioner.cfm |title=Call her Commissioner: Sandoval joins California Public Utilities Commission |last=Gerdes |first=Justin |journal=Santa Clara Magazine |publisher=Santa Clara University |access-date=October 15, 2011}}

Sandoval convened rulemaking workshops in 2011 to analyze the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile which would combine their customer base encompassing 47% of California's mobile phone market. The CPUC's investigation examined whether the merger would serve the public interest under California law in light of T-Mobile's large market share in California. The hearings were seen as creating a precedent that would inform federal investigators seeking to block the merger, according to Dan Morain, columnist for the Sacramento Bee.{{cite news |url=http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_18694857?source=pkg |title=Quietly, Gov. Brown is making an impact with appointments |last=Morain |first=Dan |date=August 20, 2011 |work=Contra Costa Times |publisher=Bay Area News Group |access-date=October 16, 2011}}

In June 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Sandoval to be a member of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. On November 17, 2022, the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held hearings on her nomination. On December 13, 2022, the United States Senate discharged the committee from further consideration of the nomination by unanimous consent agreement, and confirmed the nomination by voice vote.{{cite web |title=PN2249 — Catherine J.K. Sandoval — Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board 117th Congress (2021-2022) |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/117th-congress/2249 |website=US Congress |date=December 13, 2022 |access-date=December 13, 2022}} She was sworn in on February 2, 2023.{{cite web |url=https://www.csb.gov/csb-back-to-three-board-members-again/ |title=CSB Back to Three Board Members Again |date=2023-02-02 |publisher=Chemical Safety Board |access-date=2023-02-05}}

Sandoval lives in Campbell, California,{{cite web |url=http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/aboutus/Commissioners/Sandoval/ |title=Commissioner Catherine J.K. Sandoval |publisher=California Public Utilities Commission |access-date=October 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001052051/http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/aboutus/Commissioners/Sandoval/ |archive-date=October 1, 2011 }} with her husband Steve Smith.In her publications, Sandoval has thanked her husband:
{{•}}[http://www.law.indiana.edu/fclj/pubs/v60/no3/7-Sandoval.pdf "Heartfelt thanks to my family, especially to my husband, Steve Smith."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907200037/http://www.law.indiana.edu/fclj/pubs/v60/no3/7-Sandoval.pdf |date=2008-09-07 }}
{{•}}[http://www.stjohns.edu/media/3/08f05235d031430f8a8203583d14fabe.pdf "Heartfelt thanks to my husband, Steve Smith, for his support throughout the research and writing of this Article."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530074643/http://www.stjohns.edu/media/3/08f05235d031430f8a8203583d14fabe.pdf |date=2010-05-30 }}

Sandoval has been involved with nonprofit organizations, including Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional which was formed to help U.S. Latinas seeking higher education. A similar group—Olga Talamante's Chicana/Latina Foundation—honored Sandoval with its Legacy Award in 2011.{{cite web |url=http://www.chicanalatina.org/detailsUpcoming.php?id=62 |title=2011 Annual Scholarship Awards Dinner |date=October 14, 2011 |publisher=Chicana / Latina Foundation |access-date=October 17, 2011 |location=South San Francisco |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017184955/http://www.chicanalatina.org/detailsUpcoming.php?id=62 |archive-date=October 17, 2011 }} Diplomat Vilma Socorro Martínez and Judge Dorothy W. Nelson are two of Sandoval's heroes.

• {{cite journal |first=Catherine J. K. |last=Sandoval |title=Antitrust law on the borderland of language and market definition: is there a separate Spanish-language radio market? |volume=40 |journal=University of San Francisco Law Review |year=2006 |url=http://www.stjohns.edu/media/3/08f05235d031430f8a8203583d14fabe.pdf |pages=381–449 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530074643/http://www.stjohns.edu/media/3/08f05235d031430f8a8203583d14fabe.pdf |archive-date=2010-05-30 }}
• {{cite book |url=http://mediaresearchhub.ssrc.org/grants/funded-projects/understanding-barriers-to-entry-for-minority-and-female-broadcasters/understanding-barriers-to-entry-for-minority-and-female-broadcasters |chapter=Understanding Barriers to Entry for Minority and Female Broadcasters |last1=Sandoval |first1=Catherine |last2=Hammond |first2=Allen S. IV |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |title=Media Diversity and Localism: Meanings and Metrics |editor=Phillip Napoli |access-date=2011-10-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829220733/http://mediaresearchhub.ssrc.org/grants/funded-projects/understanding-barriers-to-entry-for-minority-and-female-broadcasters/understanding-barriers-to-entry-for-minority-and-female-broadcasters |archive-date=2011-08-29 }}
• {{cite journal |first=Catherine J. K. |last=Sandoval |title=Antitrust Language Barriers: First Amendment Constraints on Defining an Antitrust Market by a Broadcast's Language, and Its Implications for Audiences, Competition, and Democracy |volume=60 |journal=Federal Communications Law Journal |year=2008 |url=http://www.law.indiana.edu/fclj/pubs/v60/no3/7-Sandoval.pdf |pages=407–480 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907200037/http://www.law.indiana.edu/fclj/pubs/v60/no3/7-Sandoval.pdf |archive-date=2008-09-07 }}
• {{cite journal |first=Catherine J. K. |last=Sandoval |title=Disclosure, Deception, and Deep-Packet Inspection: The Role of the Federal Trade Commission Act's Deceptive Conduct Prohibitions in the Net Neutrality Debate |volume=78 |journal=Fordham Law Review |number=2 |year=2009 |url=http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol78/iss2/9 |page=641}}
• {{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6_jvKuMRdQC&pg=PA88 |chapter=Minority Commercial Radio Ownership |last=Sandoval |first=Catherine J.K. |publisher=Fordham University Press |year=2010 |title=Communications Research in Action: Scholar-Activist Collaborations for a Democratic Public Sphere |pages=88–113 |editor=Phillip M. Napoli, Minna Aslama |isbn=978-0-8232-3347-2}}
• {{cite journal |first=Catherine J.K. |last=Sandoval |title=Pharmaceutical Reverse Payment Settlements: Presumptions, Procedural Burdens, and Covenants Not to Sue Generic Drug Manufacturers |volume=26 |journal=Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal |year=2010 |url=http://www.chtlj.org/sites/default/files/media/articles/v026/v026.i1.Sandoval.pdf |pages=141–183 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421163756/http://www.chtlj.org/sites/default/files/media/articles/v026/v026.i1.Sandoval.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-21 }}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1828&dat=19831220&id=LS0oAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nacEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1336,3147251 News article from 1983 including a photo of Sandoval and her parents]
• [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/FCCP C-SPAN video from 1996], an open forum hosted by the FCC
• [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Ownershi C-SPAN video from 1999] regarding minority ownership and management in media

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Category:Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford

Category:American lawyers of Mexican descent

Category:American Rhodes Scholars

Category:American women lawyers

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Category:Living people

Category:People associated with Munger, Tolles & Olson

Category:People from Campbell, California

Category:People from Montebello, California

Category:Stanford Law School alumni

Category:Yale University alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:21st-century American women

Category:United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board