This article first appeared in the Fall/Winter 2006 edition of In Touch Magazine. For reprint permission contact the Director of Public Relations at 1-800-251-6227.

by Megan E. Richard

Randy Ataide has combined law, farming, theology, ethics, business studies and teaching in a unique expression of faithfulness to God’s call on his life.

“Once a farmer, always a farmer.”

That could be the motto for many who have chosen the occupation – none more so than Randy Ataide, who heads three fruit farming businesses in Dinuba, California. Yet, this successful farmer lays claim to a cross-pollinization of academics that has taken him far beyond the fields of Central California.

Beyond the law
Randy’s first career choice was law. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications in 1982 he began attending law school in the evenings.

His life took a turn in the summer of 1984 when he began a job stacking boxes and sweeping floors at his in-laws' fruit packing shed in Reedley, California. When he finished law school in 1986 and passed the bar exam, he decided to continue farming. He credits his law degree for helping him analyze and develop solutions to problems he faces in the business world.

In 1994 Randy, his wife Ruth and two other couples founded Mountain View Cold Storage and Fruit Sales Inc., followed in 1997 by Summeripe Worldwide, Inc.

Along the way, business involvement was always paired with study. Randy has gone on to complete a Master’s degree in Theology from Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary (2003), a one-week Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Management Program (2004), and the three-year Executive Harvard Business School Owner/President Management Program (2006).

The road to Seminary
Through the influence of fellow church members, including former Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary president Henry Schmidt and his wife Elvera, Randy enrolled at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary in 1982. But by 1984 he was ready for full-time work, and seminary was put on the back burner. Over the next sixteen years his passion for theology remained, along with a gnawing hunger to finish what he started. He returned to seminary studies in 2001.

Much of his study at Seminary focused on a theological approach to business and ethics. His thesis, “If We Serve a God of Productivity is There Room for Jesus? An analysis and application of Jacques Ellul’s thesis of technique in the agri-business world,” brought together his love of farming with the larger issue of Christian ethics.

“Randy’s thesis not only offers strong theological critiques of common business practices, but also provides alternatives to those practices,” comments Seminary professor Mark Baker, Randy’s thesis advisor.

“The thesis has great credibility because he has worked with his business associates to implement those alternative practices,” Baker adds. “These changes have benefited farmers he buys from, employers, and customers. The business itself is flourishing.”

Randy credits Baker and fellow professor Jon Isaak for challenging him to “go back to the well” to think deeper, and it was theirs and others' encouragement that led him to Harvard. “The greatest benefit of Seminary was the training I received in handling the Scriptures. It gave me confidence in thinking, writing and teaching that encouraged me to teach,” says Ataide.

From farmer to professor
After his son began attending Point Loma Nazarene University in 2002, Randy was asked to speak to business students at the University on two separate occasions. His Seminary thesis was the source material for the lectures. He was soon after recruited to join Point Loma’s Business School.

In the fall of 2005 Randy, with his family’s blessing, accepted the position of Director of the Fermanian Business Center and Associate Professor of Business in the MBA program at PLNU. Randy and Ruth relocated to the San Diego area in the summer of 2006. Randy returns every few weeks to his businesses in Dinuba – something PLNU has encouraged him to continue.

Today, as a farmer, a business school director and a teacher, Randy wants to add another title, that of “bridge-builder.”

“Ruth and I think the past twenty-five years have (led us through) a process of shaping me to bring a real-world business perspective to business education,” says Randy, “and that when the time was right we would know it. The time, opportunity and place we believe are now right.”

Get to know this alumnus better by visiting www.ptloma.edu, www.mountainviewfruit.com, and www.summeripe.com.