George Hasslein

George Hasslein grew up in a rough neighborhood of East LA to August and Lena Hasslein, both immigrants from Europe. George recalls learning his nurturing teaching skills at an early age. "I learned to take care of other people early" he recalls. "I became the 'parent' at seven years old." George had a paper route every day that he was in school and gave the money back to his family, fully paying for his grandmother's funeral. George was encouraged to attend school and to value education. He attended John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles, a magnet school for those interested in the architecture program. Upon graduation Goerge choose to attend USC.

George became known for his affinity toward modern architecture and was part of a group within the USC program known as the "red hots." Before receiving his Bachelors from USC George worked as a draftsmen for the Army Corps of Engineers and traveled to Costa Rica and MIT to work on engineering projects. After graduating George worked for a variety of architectural firms in the Los Angeles area. Through these experiences he learned the importance of communication with engineers and the value of having design ideals. George took the passion for his design ideals to Cal Poly where he taught architectural drafting. He eventually became the head of the architectural engineering department and ultimately the Dean of the College. George Hasslein is credited with bringing the architecture program the prestige and respect that it is recognized with today.