stevehornmug Steve Horn, whose long record of consensus-building leadership in the Greater Long Beach area extended from academia to the halls of congress, died today at his home from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease. He was 79.

Horn was married for 57 years to Nini Moore Horn. They have two children, Marcia Horn and Steve Horn, Jr., and one grandson, Jonathan Horn. Funeral services are private; a memorial will be held at a later date. The family requests that any donations be made to the University Library, California State University, Long Beach, c/o CSULB Foundation, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840.

Horn made his name locally as President of California State University, Long Beach from 1970 to 1988. Later, he represented Long Beach’s former 38th Congressional district from 1993-2003—a Republican who was elected in a district dominated by voters registered as Democrats.

Meanwhile, Horn was always active in the community. Among many positions, he chaired a regional United Way campaign, was a Founding Member and Secretary of the Long Beach Economic Development Corporation and the Long Beach Economic Development Commission (the two groups that began the economic renaissance of Long Beach in the 1970s), Vice Chair of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, and Member of the Mayor’s Task Force to save the Long Beach Symphony.

Horn’s tenure as top man at Cal State Long Beach was, not coincidentally, a time of tremendous growth for the university. He strengthened existing academic programs, reformed the general education requirements, and created innovative programs including the student internship program, faculty development, student learning assistance, the senior citizen program, the Disabled Student Resources Center, and the Honors program.
His fellow college presidents recognized his leadership by electing him Chairman of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in 1985, and he was cited as one of the 100 most effective college presidents in the country in a 1986 national study.
Among the buildings Horn established were Social Science/Public Affairs, Student Services Administration, Engineering/Computer Science, Business, Industrial Technology, Microbiology, Music, the International Houses, and the Parkside Residence Halls.
In Congress, Horn chaired the House Subcommittee on Government Management of the Committee on Government Reform from 1995 to 2002.

In addition to securing funding for the C-17 and the Alameda Corridor, Horn’s major legacy for many in Long Beach was securing expedited funding and a fast-track construction schedule for L.A. River improvements which removed onerous FEMA mandated “flood insurance” from homeowners in much of Wrigley, North Long Beach and East Long Beach.

Horn also played a pivotal role in helping the city of Downey acquire the sprawling former NASA property.

Horn’s career in Congress ended as a victim of his own success—the inability of several Democratic candidates to defeat him, (although current Long Beach City Council member Gerrie Schipske came very close). In 2001, the Democratically dominated state legislature redrew 38th district lines so that they stretched from Norwalk north to East L.A., then jogged east to Pomona, covering none of Long Beach, which was then split into two districts. Roughly 80 percent of the city is in a Carson-Compton area district (held then by Juanita McDonald and succeeded by Laura Richardson) and about 20 percent is in a district now occupied by Republican Dana Rohrabacher.

In 2010, California voters took away from Sacramento lawmakers the power to draw Congressional district lines. The state’s new Congressional district lines are now being drawn by an independent commission.

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