Norman K. Tuitavuki

’17 MA Transportation Management

I was born in Kahuku, Hawaii—a small “village” town on the northeast shore of Oahu. My father was an immigrant who left the beautiful island of Tonga as a teenager to pursue his education in Hawaii. He lived and worked on the campus of the small church college he attended where he studied electrical and mechanical engineering. While attending college there, he met and married my mother, and together they created a huge family of 10 boys (one adopted boy) and one girl. Eventually, we moved to California and we’ve been here since 1980.

My parents taught us that education must be at the top of our priority list (aside from faith and family). They both attended higher education and in turn, their children did, too. I completed a graduate degree from San José State University several years ago. Without this formal training, I don’t know where I’d be at this moment in my life. I can tell you that without it—I wouldn’t have been able to realize all of the things I’ve achieved in my professional life. The education I received from San José State has given me the tools I need to advance my career upward. I currently live on the Monterey Bay peninsula and work for the best public transportation agency in the nation!