Born March 8, 1941, Congressman Alan Lowenthal was raised in the Queens Borough of New York City. After earning his Bachelor’s Degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and his Ph.D. from Ohio State University, he moved to Long Beach, California in 1969 where he taught Community Psychology at California State University, Long Beach until 1998. 

Congressman Lowenthal successfully ran for Long Beach City Council in 1992, where he served for six years. He then continued his leadership in Sacramento, first serving three terms as a State Assembly member, then two terms as a State Senator.

As a city council member, and then as a state legislator, the Congressman fought against the then-commonplace private and public sector belief that environmental protections and economic success at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles were mutually exclusive. His landmark environmental legislative efforts helped lead the two adjacent ports becoming the cleanest and greenest ports in the world, while remaining the busiest and most successful container ports in the Western Hemisphere. The green business model advocated by the Congressman instituted by the two ports has become a role model for ports throughout the world.

While a State Assembly member, and as a founding member of the Assembly's Bipartisan Caucus, he paved the way for creation of California’s first ever independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, which took the power of redistricting out of the hands of politicians and gave it back to the people.

In addition, the Congressman led legislative efforts to revamp the state's K-12 and higher education systems. He championed the College Promise Partnership Act to help K-12 students better transition to college. The passage of his Student Success Act also helped higher education students by introducing significant reforms to the state community college system that focused on increasing graduation and transfer rates.