Two named to university posts

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced two appointments to the governing boards of the state’s public university systems. The appointments, announced Monday, will require approval from the state Senate, which posed a problem 10 years ago for one of the candidates.

John Hotchkis, chief executive of Ramajal, an investment management firm, was appointed to the UC Board of Regents. Hotchkis, a Republican, served as a UC regent for a year until his permanent appointment was blocked in 1998 by Senate Democrats before the election that brought a Democratic governor, Gray Davis, to Sacramento.

Hotchkis, 76, has had a long career in business, including serving as president of Trust Co. of the West, and is active in arts philanthropy.

Named to the Cal State University Board of Trustees was Margaret Fortune, a former education advisor to the governor. Fortune, 36, is a leader of Project Pipeline, a Sacramento-based nonprofit organization that helps recruit and train public school teachers. A Democrat, Fortune also was superintendent of a Sacramento-area K-12 charter school district.