Ben Fong-Torres got his start in journalism on campus, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in radio-television-film in 1966. The former Rolling Stone magazine writer and editor has interviewed rock music icons such as Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead, and holds the distinction of having the last U.S. interview with Jim Morrison of The Doors before his death in Paris. Fong-Torres is currently the vice president of content for Collabrys, Inc., a company that produces branded e-magazines. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, Dianne, also an SFSU alum.

Roy De Forest

Artist Roy De Forest, now a professor emeritus at UC Davis where he taught for more than three decades, who earned a bachelor's degree in art in 1953 and master's degree in art in 1958, was a member of San Francisco's "Funk Art" movement of the 1960s. His paintings evolved into vividly patterned landscapes packed with animal and human figures. He's been in nearly 40 solo exhibits, and his print "Country Dog Gentlemen," can be seen at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. De Forest's wife, Gloria, and son, Pascal, are both SFSU alumni.

devorah major

devorah major, a 1975 graduate with a bachelor's degree in black studies, is an essayist, novelist and San Francisco's poet laureate. Her latest work, "With More Than Tongue," will be published this month. A San Francisco resident since childhood, major captured the essence of the Fillmore District in her 2002 novel "Brown Glass Windows."

Manny Mashouf, who earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 1966, started his career as a manager for rock impresario Bill Graham. But his stay in the music business was short as he moved onto women's apparel. He opened the first bebe boutique on Polk Street in 1976. Today, with 178 shops in the United States and Canada, bebe is a cutting-edge retailer. Mashouf, bebe's CEO, also serves on the College of Business's Advisory Council.

For the first time the Alumni Association honors an emeritus professor for dedicated service to students and the San Francisco State University community. Former elementary education professor Violet Robinson, who began her career at SFSU in 1954 and taught for 38 years, will be feted.

Robinson is a founding board member of the California Kindergarten Association and served as the association's president from 1992 to 1994. She is also co-author of "Emergent Literacy in Kindergarten."