Nearly $7,000 in private funds raised for Gordon B. (Don) Thomas Memorial Scholarship

SAN FRANCISCO, November 12, 2003 -- The San Francisco State University Cinema Department will announce the establishment of a scholarship for its students next week in memory of alumnus and Lecturer Gordon B. (Don) Thomas. He died June 6 at age 35.

The $500 scholarship will be awarded to one SFSU cinema student each year. So far, $6,860 has been donated in private funds.

"Don was highly creative, diligent and inspiring. He believed in the strength of human diversity and artistic statements of issues of importance," said Dick Thomas, his father. "We look forward to assisting aspiring filmmakers who share these same values and attributes."

An award-winning animator and filmmaker, Thomas was the first SFSU student to earn a master of fine arts degree in animation cinema, graduating in 2001. He went on to teach beginning and advanced courses in animation at the University until his death.

The scholarship will be announced officially at a memorial film screening Nov. 20 on the SFSU campus. Admission is by invitation only. Members of Thomas' family, as well as his partner Ron Ng, will attend.

"Don believed in the power and necessity of finding one's own voice," Ng said. "In our homogeneous corporate mediated society, our voices and stories are often disregarded and ignored, and our isolation from each other magnified. Don believed that out of necessity for our collective survival, we need to hear each other's voices and stories to find our way into the future, together."

Thomas was well-liked and well-regarded for his creativity and sense of humor by both faculty and students.

"He was a stellar colleague for me, always cheerful and willing to help with everything and an extremely talented artist and filmmaker," said Martha Gorzycki, assistant professor of cinema and animation coordinator.

Thomas' most recent film, a stop-motion and hand-drawn animated short titled "Pedro + Tony?," is a comedy of errors that turns serious when Pedro, a dog, and his boyfriend Tony, a chicken, celebrate their six-month anniversary amid tension and fights. The film screened at more than 50 festivals worldwide and won the Best Animation Prize at the 2002 Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival. Thomas and "Pedro + Tony?" received worldwide publicity when he ran around Park City, Utah, dressed in a chicken suit during the 2002 Sundance Film Festival to promote the movie.