Steve Horn

John Stephen Horn (May 31, 1931 – February 17, 2011) was President of California State University, Long Beach and later a five-term Republican United States Congressman from California from 1993 to 2003.

Horn was born on May 31, 1931, in San Juan Bautista, California, Horn served in the United States Army Reserves from 1954 until 1962.

Horn earned his bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 1953 and went on to earn a Master of Public Administration from Harvard's Graduate School of Public Administration in 1955. In 1958 he earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University.

In 1959, Horn became administrative assistant to Secretary of Labor James P. Mitchell. In 1960, he went to work for then U.S. Senator Thomas Kuchel (R-CA) as a legislative assistant and served in that capacity until 1966, when he left to become a Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Horn played a major role in the 1964 presidential campaign of Nelson Rockefeller in California. He also served as Vice Chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission from 1969 to 1980 and as a member of the National Institute of Corrections from 1972 until 1988 (serving as chairman from 1984 until 1987).

Horn was President of California State University Long Beach from 1970 until 1988 when he stepped down to run for Congress.

As President of CSULB, Horn reformed the university's graduation and general education requirements to emphasize learning skills, cultural literacy, and interdisciplinary education, as well as creating the first university and human resource opportunities course requirement in the United States. Horn also gained passage of legislation allowing California's senior citizens to take courses for reduced fees on all 23 campuses of the California State University. Horn established one of America's first programs for women returning to college. He also created the CSULB Disabled Resources Center, which served as a model to institutions across the United States. Horn led the university through 11 major construction projects, including the North Campus Center and buildings for Engineering/Computer Science, Social Science/Public Affairs, and Student Services Administration.

Horn first ran for Congress in 1988 in a race to succeed Republican Dan Lungren but lost the primary to conservative Dana Rohrabacher.

After the 1991 reapportionment, his home in Long Beach was drawn into the neighboring 38th district, then held by veteran Democratic incumbent Glenn M. Anderson. When Anderson announced his retirement in 1992, Horn jumped into the race to succeed him. He narrowly won an 8-way Republican primary before beating Anderson's stepson, then Long Beach city councilman Evan Anderson Braude, in the general election.