OMAR E. BECERRIL NAMED GRADUATE VALEDICTORY SPEAKER

Lt. Col. Omar E. Becerril (USAF) retired as Comptroller, Special Operations Command Pacific, Camp Smith, Marine Corps Base, Hawai'i. As Comptroller, he was responsible for formulating, justifying and executing a $355 million budget encompassing the U.S. Navy, U.S. Special Operations and Department of Defense appropriations. These funds were used to resource Aerial Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and Casualty Evacuation capabilities, small unit exchanges, joint and combined training events, and special operations deployments throughout the Pacific in support of United States Indo-Pacific Command counter-terrorism missions.

Becerril held numerous financial and program management positions over his 25-year Air Force career at posts including the U.S. Embassy, Cairo, Egypt, U.S. Central Command at MacDill AFB, Tampa, Florida, and U.S. European Command at Stuttgart, Germany. 

Becerril is earning his Master of Arts in Organization Development and Change. He chose HPU for its cultural enrichment and diversity, seeing value in a strong and diverse culture to promote cross-cultural awareness, innovation and collaboration. His master's capstone research project focused on self-efficacy of teachers and students, methods of teaching and how these affect students' performance in multicultural classrooms. He conducted fieldwork in France, visiting campuses and speaking with academic leaders at institutions recognized for their high-level achievements in educating in multicultural classrooms. His research results indicate that culturally diverse instructional strategies heighten student and teacher performance. He also discovered that teaching methods and preparedness alone will not sustain a high level of performance. Becerril found the formula for success to be the importance of understanding culture within the schools combined with teacher preparedness.

Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Becerril and his family consider Kailua Beach, Hawai'i home.