Rodolfo "Rudy" Francisco Acuña (born May 18, 1932) is an American historian, professor emeritus at California State University, Northridge, and a scholar of Chicano studies.

Acuña was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1932[1] to Alicia Elías who was from Sonora, Mexico.

[citation needed] Acuña received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Los Angeles State College, now known as California State University, Los Angeles, and later earned his PhD in History from the University of Southern California (USC).

Two years later, he traveled to El Salvador as a correspondent for the Texas Observer covering its presidential elections.

A jury stated that Acuña had been discriminated against on the basis of his age, but Federal Judge Audrey Collins refused to compel the university to hire him, instead awarding him a monetary compensation of $325,000, which Acuña stated that he and his wife would use to help the victims of employment discrimination in higher education.