Biography of Joseph Chirra

Joseph Chirra earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from The Pennsylvania State University and a Juris Doctor degree from The University of San Diego School of Law. He is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, and Phi Alpha Delta, the national legal fraternity. He has been a member of the California Bar and the Federal Bar since 1974 and was the founder and, for many years, the managing partner of a ten-lawyer law firm engaged in civil and criminal defense litigation.

Since 1976, Mr. Chirra has been an associate professor of political science at MiraCosta College, where he has also taught criminal evidence in the Administration of Justice program. He is a founder and was the first president of the MiraCosta College Theatre Arts Foundation. He is a founder and was the first president of the MiraCosta College Academic Associate Faculty, CCA/CTA/NEA.

Additionally, Mr. Chirra has served as a principal in the development of several residential real estate projects in California and Pennsylvania and he has been a licensed California real estate broker.

Mr. Chirra is the author of A Life of Riches: Your Own Personal Success Manual, a book about personal achievement, goal-setting, networking, and career-building.

His black and white fine art photograph, Sea Ranch, was judged Best in Show at the North County Photographic Society's Members' Photographic Exhibition.

With his wife, Gloria Floren, Mr. Chirra has established The Joseph Chirra and Gloria Floren Endowment for Peace at The Pennsylvania State University. Its purpose is to provide a humanities-based, multi-discipline program to explore the issues of war and conflict and peace and peace-building as a way to enrich the understanding of the importance of peace in today’s society.