THE JAMES AKIRA HIRABAYASHI
PERSON FOR ALL SEASONS SCHOLARSHIP

All who pledge a gift before September 16 to the Hirabayashi Scholarship Fund will be listed in the October 2, 2011 program book for the College’s 42nd Anniversary and Annual Award Program. Renaissance donors of $1,000 will be publically acknowledged during the program. The first two scholarships of $1,000 each will be awarded May, 2012. The scholarship is open to all upper division majors and minors in the College of Ethnic Studies.

To donate, please go to the College’s giving page and click Dean James Akira
Hirabayashi Person for All Seasons Scholarship Fund

The past forty years has seen the ascendency into positions of leadership in public life hundreds of well-educated men and women who are grounded in Ethnic Studies. The tradition of embedding Ethnic Studies into an interdisciplinary approach to academic exploration and marrying it to a commitment to a life of public service was modeled by the first dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University (SF State), Dr. James Akira Hirabayashi.

Part of the first Asian American generation of post World War II PhDs, Dr. Hirabayashi is a Harvard graduate who held research and teaching positions at the University of Tokyo, Japan, where he was a Fullbright Fellow; the University of Alberta, Edmonton; and, Ahmadu Bellow University, Zaria, Nigeria. Dr. Hirabayashi has authored numerous university-level texts, and he taught anthropology at SF State before assuming leadership of the newly created Ethnic Studies program in 1969. He subsequently served as Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

In addition to his depth of intellect, knowledge and experience, Dr. Hirabayashi has a profound commitment to social justice and service to all of humanity. As a result, Dr. Hirabayashi nurtured the careers of hundreds of faculty members, staff, and students of all ethnicities and cultures at SF State and in the broader community. He had a particularly profound effect on those who choose to commit to lives of public service. Dr. Hirabayashi is indeed a person for all seasons and for all people.

Because of his commitment to public service and an approach to interdisciplinary studies that includes an academic grounding in Ethnic Studies, the James Akira Hirabayashi Person for All Seasons Scholarship Fund has been created to support, encourage and acknowledge students similarly committed. The Scholarship is open to upperclassmen majoring or minoring in any of the Ethnic Studies disciplines at SF State who have taken an interdisciplinary approach to their studies and who are committed to service in the public sector.

Juanita Tamayo Lott established the James Akira Hirabayashi Person for All Seasons Scholarship Fund and is its founding donor. Also committed to interdisciplinary studies and social justice for all, Mrs. Lott was one of the students who participated in the historic 1968 student-led Strike at SF State that led to the creation of the College of Ethnic Studies. She went on to become the first administrative assistant to Dr. Hirabayashi before assuming graduate studies at the University of Chicago and a career in the federal statistical system in Washington, D.C. She retired from the US Census Bureau as a senior demographer. It is Mrs. Lott’s hope that the James Akira Hirabayashi Person for All Seasons Scholarship Fund will be supported by a broad range of donors from across communities and generations to reflect Dr. Hirabayashi’s service to all the students, staff, and faculty within the College of Ethnic Studies, indeed all of San Francisco State University. We invite you to support our vision of committed and well-rounded public leaders for tomorrow’s America.

For additional questions, contact Coordinator for College Relations, Christine Harris: charris @sfsu.edu or (415) 405-2571

Thank you for your support!