Education

SF State Education Gator Great Dennis Chaconas

Dennis Chaconas

Former superintendent

Even during the bell-bottom '60s, this former Oakland schools chief wore a suit to SF State because his immigrant father had read that respectable college boys dressed that way.

SF State Education Gator Great Robert Deegan

Robert Deegan

President

The ninth superintendent and president of Palomar College in San Marcos, he earned his bachelor's degree in psychology and his master's in counseling from SF State.

SF State Education Gator Great Brother Ronald Gallagher

Brother Ronald Gallagher

President

The 28th president of Saint Mary's College of California credits influential faculty at SF State such as Richard Trapp and Mike Zimmerman with igniting his interest in higher education.

SF State Education Gator Great Bill Honig

Bill Honig

Former superintendent

Long before his 1982 election as state superintendent of public instruction, he was a master's student at SF State who spent mornings teaching children in inner-city schools.

SF State Education Gator Great David Mertes

David Mertes

Chancellor

As chancellor of the California Community Colleges from 1988-96, this biology major helped institute important reforms at this educational system.

SF State Education Gator Great Caitlin Schwarzman

Caitlin Schwarzman

Educator

As part of her graduate thesis, this teacher with a love of sailing mapped out a challenging "school at sea" for female high school students. Her Tall Ship Semester for Girls program helps students shape up when they ship out.

SF State Education Gator Great Linda Shore

Linda Shore

Science educator

This director of the Exploratorium's Teaching Institute got starry-eyed about astronomy after taking a class because a friend said it would be "easy."

SF State Education Gator Great Caroline Vaughan

Caroline Vaughan

United Nations official

She headed the United Nations Language and Communications Programme at U.N. Headquarters in New York City before assuming the role of chief of the Central Review Bodies in its Office of Human Resources Management.

SF State Education Gator Great Alice Fong Yu

Alice Fong Yu

Bilingual education pioneer

The first Chinese American public school teacher in San Francisco, she graduated in 1926 only to be told that Chinese Americans were not being hired. She persisted until she found a principal willing to employ a bilingual teacher. Today San Francisco's Alice Fong Yu Chinese immersion elementary school honors her memory.

    

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