Julian Nava was born in Los Angeles in 1927 to parents who had emigrated from Zacatecas during the era of the Mexican Revolution. He and seven siblings grew up in Boyle Heights, where they attended public school, played sports in public parks, and participated in church youth activities with ethnically diverse peers. Despite the economic challenges resulting from the Great Depression, and discrimination against Mexican-Americans, Nava and all of his siblings graduated from high school. All three Nava sons volunteered for the U.S. armed forces, with Nava volunteering at the age of 17 to serve in the Navy. Nava graduated from East Los Angeles Community College, Pomona College, and Harvard University, where he earned a Ph. D in Latin American history. He worked in higher education in Puerto Rico, Spain, and Colombia before joining San Fernando Valley State College (renamed California State University Northridge in 1972) as founding faculty in the Department of History. At CSUN, in addition to teaching Latin American History, Nava helped develop what became the Chicano Studies program. Nava wrote widely in Latin American history and US history, with a focus on the importance of the Mexican American experience in the United States. He wrote numerous K-12 textbooks and teacher training materials.

In 1967, Nava was elected to the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, the first Mexican American to be elected to this city-wide board (and the first Mexican elected city-wide since Edward Roybal was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1949). Nava worked to improve educational access for all and advocated for bilingual and multicultural education. Nava began his service on the board in the dynamic context of the 1968 East Los Angeles high school student protests and then the 1970 Los Angeles Superior Court order to desegregate Los Angeles public schools. Nava was elected to three terms of office, serving twice as board president. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Nava as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.

Ever the professor, Nava also sought to connect with a broad public audience. In 1970, he collaborated on a television documentary series about the historical and cultural experience Mexican American community using a Chicano perspective. “Chicano: The Mexican American Heritage Series (I & II),” first aired on the Los Angeles NBC TV station in July 1971, and later was broadcast around the country. During his retirement, Nava wrote and produced several documentary films, including “Song of the Basque” (1995) and “Voices of Cuba” (1996).

Nava and his wife Patricia raised their three children in Los Angeles, and then retired to San Diego. In retirement, he continued to enjoy lifelong interests in photography, painting, gardening, and woodwork. His passion for learning through travel led him to visit more than 20 countries on four continents. Nava continued to volunteer with community organizations through his last year of life, but most enjoyed spending time with family—especially his six grandchildren.