Dr. Garcia has a Doctorate and a Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California, a Master's degree in Urban Studies from Occidental College, and a Bachelor's degree from California State University Long Beach.  He is the recipient of the Yale University National Urban Fellowship, the NASPAA/NaCo Research Fellowship, the Loyola‑Marymount University Scholarship for the study of inter-group relations, and the Southern California Personnel Management Association Personnel Research Award.  Dr. Garcia’s doctoral dissertation was titled “A Study of Sick Time Usage By White Collar Employees In The Public Sector.”  Faculty at the University of Southern California nominated the dissertation for Outstanding Dissertation in 1982.  The research was subsequently published in the Review of Public Personnel Administration and cited in numerous studies.  Dr. Garcia also has been invited to serve as a panel member and/or presenter at various professional management association conferences.

Professionally, Dr. Garcia has over 30 years of progressively responsible human resources management and city management experience.  He has over twenty years of experience providing management consulting and organizational development services to corporations, municipalities, universities, utilities, and special districts. In addition, he has facilitated numerous strategic planning, team building, and workforce diversity workshops and retreats for executives, managers, and elected officials. 

Dr. Garcia is a member of the International Personnel Management Association, International City Managers Association, and the American Society for Public Adminis­tration.  He has served as past Vice‑President, Programs of the Southern California Personnel Managers Association (1990‑91), and has been a member of the USC SCAPA Praetor Board of Directors and the USC Hispanic Advisory Board. He currently serves as a member of the Five Acres Board of Directors Human Resources Committee and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California, School of Policy, Planning, and Development where he teaches graduate courses in Human Resources Management.