Name: Michael Ketaily
Position: Department Chair and full-time faculty for the Oxnard College Public Safety Department
What does that entail?
My duties include providing leadership to the Public Safety Department and ensuring that we are delivering the best possible product to our students. We are ultimately responsible for training young men and women to save property and lives. I retired from the Los Angeles Fire Department in 2015 and accepted my new position at Oxnard College at the same time. My second career has been so fulfilling! I have this great opportunity to be involved with young, motivated, and focused people. It is so rewarding!
How long have you worked for the district?
I started as a professional expert at the Fire Academy in 1997 and have been at Oxnard College ever since. It has been a pleasure and an honor to watch the Oxnard College Regional Fire Academy grow into one of the leading College Fire Academies in the state. Most of my teaching experience has been in the Firefighter I Academy, but now I teach four classes per semester and average approximately 160 students per semester. I recently completed a distance education (online) course and will be pursuing that soon. I have had the pleasure of assisting many OC students achieve their goal of becoming a firefighter.
Were you a student at one of the district’s colleges and if so which one? What was your major and your degree?
I was not a student at one of the district’s colleges; I attended Cal Lutheran College (CLC, yep that’s right!). I was hired by the fire department in 1980 and moved to Ventura County in 1985. I have been married to my wife, Brandi, for 20 years and we have three adult children, Tim, Kylie, and Jim. Tim is a firefighter with the LAFD.
I finished my education at the University of Redlands in 1984 and started my second career at Oxnard College in 1997. Back then, the Oxnard College Fire Academy was comprised of dirt roads, some military bunkers and a couple of cinder-block classrooms. We have come a long way!!
Are you from the area and if not where are you from?
I am a native Californian, born in Northridge. I was raised in Canoga Park and graduated from CPHS in 1978.
Share something personal about yourself: (ex: pets, hobbies, what are you currently watching/listening to and why you enjoy it)
I always have enjoyed mountain biking and have taken several out-of-state trips. Our house is in Newbury Park, close to Sycamore Canyon, with miles of trails. In 2011, I provided support (drove the motorhome) for a group of firefighters who rode their bicycles across the United States to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. It was truly a bucket-list experience, 3,300 miles in six weeks. We arrived in New York City on September 10, 2011, and raised approximately $150,000 for the Dennis Leary FF Foundation and the Wounded Warrior Project.