George S. Araki, Professor Emeritus, School of Biology and the Institute for Holistic Health at San Francisco State University, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on June 29, 2006, at Marin General Hospital, Greenbrae, California.
The younger son of the late Frank Matsuji and Kikuye Araki, George was born in 1932 and spent the first 10 years of his life in Mt. Eden, California. During World War II, his family was among the approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans forcibly relocated under Executive Order 9066. They spent the war years at Tanforan, California, and Topaz, Utah, and returned to Hayward after the war.
During the Korean Conflict, he served in Alaska as a Russian Language Specialist in the Military Intelligence Service.
He graduated cum laude with a degree in biology from San Francisco State University in 1957, and completed his graduate work at Stanford University where he received a Ph.D. in cellular molecular biology in 1962.
Dr. Araki went on to a distinguished career at San Francisco State University where he was the founding director of the University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Sciences and co-founder of the Institute for Holistic Healing Studies. He retired in 1999. During his tenure, San Francisco State became the first accredited university in the nation to offer a program of study in holistic health/holistic healing studies. Dr. Araki was also an early and enthusiastic proponent of alternative healing practices such as biofeedback therapy, Autogenic Training and Reiki.
Deeply influenced by Third World Student strikes in 1969, Dr. Araki co-founded and served as president of the San Francisco Center for Japanese American Studies.
In 1970, Dr. Araki traveled with his family to Japan to serve as Resident Director for the California State College system at Waseda University in Tokyo. He later traveled to Brazil, Nepal and China to gain further insight into holistic healthcare practices.
Dr. Araki is survived by his wife, Camilla Jewell, Nancy Araki and children Lianne (Edward Hattyar) Araki of San Mateo, David (Lisa) Araki of New York City, Kathy (Todd Hotchkiss) Araki, granddaughters Ayumi and Kiyomi Araki-Beaucage of Albuquerque, brother Kai of Sacramento, and nephew, nieces and cousins.
Donations in his memory may be made to: The Holistic Health Learning Center, c/o George S. Araki Student Awards, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco, CA 94132. These donations will be allocated in George’s name for outstanding student scholarship and service within the Holistic Health program.