Growing up, Mauricio López-Hodoyán had two excellent role models in his life: His parents.

His father is a civil engineer, and his mother, Julieta López, in 1969 graduated from the women’s college that was to become the University of San Diego.

López-Hodoyán followed, in a way, his parents’ example: He graduated from USD with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1993.

However, López-Hodoyán has paved a way for himself. His tenacity led him to complete a master of business administration also from USD, two years later.

“Since I was a senior in high school I traced a plan for myself: I would do my undergraduate work in engineer ing, and then continue on to get a business graduate degree,” he said. “It was all part of my master plan.”

Almost 20 years later, López-Hodoyán admits that he has accomplished much more than he expected. He currently is vice president of Strategy & Analysis at Qualcomm Technologies Inc., one of the largest tech companies in the United States. He has been at Qualcomm since 1996 when he was hired as a financial analyst, and since then he has moved up the ranks of the corporate world.

López-Hodoyán is the first recipient of the Author E. Hughes Award for Career Achievement from USD’s Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, which will present the award to López-Hodoyán at a ceremony in the Joan B. Kroc Institute of Peace & Justice on April 26.

For Chell Roberts, dean of the Shiley-Marcos school, López-Hodoyán represents the core values that the school tries to instill in its students.

“He’s an outstanding person,” Roberts said. “After gathering information from faculty and previous students, we had three final candidates, and Mauricio just bubbled to the top.”

Roberts said that the school of engineering at USD was barely founded last summer. Before that, the department of engineering was within the school of business. In 22 years, USD had 500 graduates with an engineering degree. Today, the dean said that there are almost 500 students majoring in engineering at San Diego’s largest Catholic university. Of that number, about 25 percent of the students are of Latino origin, according to Roberts.

“It excites me that Mauricio is very representative of a diverse community in San Diego,” Roberts said. “We’re very glad that he can serve as a role model to other Latinos who are considering engineering as a career. Mauricio truly exemplifies the spirit of innovation and excellence and that we hope to instill in all our graduates,”

At Qualcomm, López-Hodoyán is responsible for researching, analyzing and forecasting global cellular device demand for its Chipset Division. The analysis and recommendations from his team are used to help drive the division’s financial forecast, long-term planning and product development.

López-Hodoyán, who is 43 years old, said that “it’s an incredible honor” to be receiving this alumni award.

“Going to both undergraduate and graduate school at USD really set the foundations for me,” he said.

López-Hodoyán said that he hopes he serves as a role model to all future engineers, even those junior level employees at Qualcomm who are looking for advice.

“My door is always open for those who want to know my perspective,” he said.

López-Hodoyán, who lives in Chula Vista with his wife and two children, said that his parents are “beyond proud of me because of what I’ve accomplished, that is almost embarrassing,” he said, smiling.

The 19th Annual Alumni Honors celebration on April 26 will recognize 10 outstanding University of San Diego alumni for career achievement, contributions to humanitarian causes, extraordinary athletic success and exemplary service to USD. The cocktail-attire event begins at 6 p.m. with the awards ceremony in the Joan B. Kroc Institute of Peace & Justice, followed by a gourmet soiree and live music under the stars. Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased at www.sandiego.edu/alumnihonors or by calling (619) 260-7889.