Ramona Agrela is the senior university official responsible for all human resources administration and operations for both the UC Irvine (UCI) campus and UCI Health academic health system. In her role, Agrela helps organizational leaders achieve their strategic goals through progressive talent management strategies. Across the UC Irvine enterprise, Agrela is responsible for programs, policies, and human resources support for nearly 34,000 employees. Her revolutionary HR model, centered on client support, and focused on empowering people success, has been widely shared at conferences throughout the U.S., and emulated by other academic institutions.

Agrela holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in public administration from California State University, Fullerton. She is a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) certified senior professional, a WorldatWork certified compensation professional, and a Human Capital Institute Strategic HR Business Partner. She currently serves as President of the CUPA-HR Southern California Chapter 2024-2025, and is a board member of the American Research Universities Human Resource Institute.