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Our Heritage

Our Kellogg Legacy

A Brief History

Cal Poly Pomona opened in 1938 in San Dimas as a satellite campus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (SLO). About a decade later, W.K. Kellogg, the entrepreneur who founded the Kellogg Company, deeded his winter residence of over 800 acres of land to the state of California, which is today’s Cal Poly Pomona campus. In 1961, women were allowed to be part of the student body for the first time. Five years later, the Pomona campus separated from SLO and became California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg Campus. In 1972, university status was granted and the school was renamed California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Cal Poly Pomona Campus in 1938
W.K.Kellogg Sitting
"Education offers the greatest opportunity for really improving one generation over another."
W.K. Kellogg

The Kellogg Connection

Cal Poly Pomona was founded on a legacy of giving, with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and its namesake founder being the driving force. What is now the CPP campus was once W.K. Kellogg’s winter residence. His former mansion has been transformed into the Kellogg House, which hosts special events. Additionally, the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center, founded in 1925, continues to run an award-winning breeding program.  

Through the years, the university and its students have benefited from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s generosity, including funds to establish scholarships. 

Kellogg believed that education offers the greatest opportunity. Cal Poly Pomona has been built on this belief and has long been the gateway to opportunity for generations.