Alumni News

Alie Ward was unhappy with her career until her love for the sometimes grubby natural world opened new doors

Science communicator Alie Ward (B.A., ’99) has unique advice for anyone starting a new career: “Get in like a cockroach.”

“Don’t wait to be invited in like a vampire,” said Ward, the host of “Ologies,” an award-winning popular science podcast, and a Daytime Emmy Award-winning science correspondent for CBS’s “The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca.” “Get under cracks and doors.”

Ward says that can include repeatedly sending cold emails, volunteering, asking questions, being authentic and weird, and generally being persistent.

While emulating roaches might not be common career advice, it’s paid off for Ward, who followed a winding road in her journey to science podcasting. (She also points out that despite their bad rep, cockroaches are fastidious, resourceful and humble.)

“It took me until my late thirties to really find science communication as a goal. I didn’t even know that you could do it,” she explained. Instead, she spent many of her early years debating whether she should follow her passion for science or her love of arts and entertainment.

Initially, she leaned into science by becoming a Biology student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After a year, she transferred to a community college, largely due to affordability, and then transferred to San Francisco State University to finish her undergraduate career as a Cinema major.

“I loved science, but I was also really missing the arts aspect. I thought maybe I would go into science illustration, but I was missing performance and writing and humor,” Ward said. She hoped she’d eventually find a way to combine science with film. “I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to pan out but I did it anyway.”

After participating in dozens of student films and building an entertainment-focused network, Ward got an agent, relocated to Los Angeles and moved further away from science. After acting for a few years, she worked as an illustrator for LA Weekly, a writer/editor for The Los Angeles Times and even a culinary TV personality with the Cooking Channel. She’d sprinkle in science when she could, but she no longer felt authentic, and she became increasingly dissatisfied with her career path.

Yet through all of this, one thing remained consistent: Ward’s lifelong fascination with bugs. She began posting about them on social media simply for the joy of it and caught the eye of Lila Higgins, an entomologist at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Higgins invited Ward to the museum for a behind-the-scenes tour and encouraged Ward to volunteer. Ward listened. Volunteering — something she did purely for fun — helped Ward feel like herself and led to her becoming a science correspondent for CBS.

“I love science. Yes, I also love TV and film. Yes, I also love being on [‘The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca’]. You know what’d be a little bit better? If they had to do less with tech and more with biology,” Ward said. “You just start to whittle down what’s really at the root of what you love and who you are.”

In 2017, nearly 20 years after she pursued science at school, she launched her podcast “Ologies.” It now ranks consistently among the top science podcasts on Apple Podcasts. Each week, Ward chats with an expert about their field and their passions, unafraid to ask seemingly silly questions she knows she and her listeners have.

The conversations are led by her guest’s passion and Ward’s curiosity. She didn’t want expert sound bites that lacked any personal depth. She adds “asides” in her voice to provide necessary explanations or context. She realized she could also provide little “brain breaks” in the form of tangents, like one about wicker furniture in the middle of a conversation about molecular biology.

She also keeps in the occasional expletive — though she agonized over whether she wanted her podcast marked by a little “E” for explicit. None of the other top science podcasts had an “E.” But eventually she decided to opt for personal authenticity over phony decorum.

“If everyone’s shaving off parts of themselves to make this smooth surface, then the smooth surfaces look identical to each other. Then where’s your impact? Where’s your voice?” she asked. “Being gravely weird can sometimes be the most comforting thing. I would rather have a hundred people like my authentic self than a thousand people like a façade.”

Learn more about SF State’s School of Cinema.

He created Vaja in Letterform Archive’s Type West certificate program, but he has been playing around with the concept since graduate school. His thesis project was a typographic design that could help Thai speakers pronounce English words.

“A lot of Thai people have difficulty with [English] pronunciation because it’s a different language, and we have to memorize how we stress here and there. Like the word ‘colonel’ — I don’t know why the ‘l’ is in the middle like that, that’s something you must memorize.” To help, he created small details, or cues, on the letterforms that would tell a Thai person how to pronounce English words.

Language and culture have been through lines in Jittagasem’s work, says SF State Design Professor Hsiao-Yun Chu, who worked closely with him in graduate school. “We take the Roman alphabet somewhat for granted; and yet, for people trying to assimilate and learn a language, it can be very daunting,” she said. “His graduate project created a new typeface that would help English language learners from Thailand to improve their pronunciation, making the process more inclusive. This is a highly creative and humanistic way to look at the power of typography.”

Vaja expanded his thesis to include all English learners, not just Thai people. The typeface comes in bold, italic and thin, and each style represents different sounds and where to put the stress. For example, the bold style indicates where to put the stress on a word and the italics are soft sounds.

The typeface isn’t ready to be downloaded just yet, but when it is Jittagasem hopes it will be used in dictionaries, English pronunciation flashcards, academic writing and even newspapers. In the meantime, he plans to apply to Ph.D. programs in design and visual communications to take his vision even further.

Learn more about SF State’s School of Design.

Patrick Makuakāne is the first native Hawaiian to receive the prestigious “genius grant”

Most cultural preservationists look to traditions, artifacts, history and language to keep a culture alive and intact. But that’s where alumnus Patrick Makuakāne (B.S., ’89), a kumu hula (master hula teacher) bucks tradition. His unique interpretation of the art form, which he calls hula mua (Hawaiian for “forward”), combines sacred elements like chanting, singing and traditional choreography with modern touches like techno music and themes drawn from contemporary culture. (His show “Mahu,” performed at several Bay Area venues this year, celebrated transgender artists.)

“In Hawaiian there’s a word called kuleana, which means your responsibility, what you bring to the table — something that’s unique and special that you do that uplifts your world,” he told the MacArthur Foundation. “Our ancestors were highly innovative people. What I’m doing with innovating in hula is keeping that innovative spirit of our ancestors and my kuleana.”

His groundbreaking work in hula at the San Francisco dance school he founded in 1985 earned him a 2023 MacArthur Fellowship in cultural preservation, a recognition that comes with a generous stipend of $800,000. He’s the first native Hawaiian to receive the honor, and he was among 19 other fellows from more traditional disciplines such as science, poetry, art, law, music and math.

The 62-year-old has made it his mission to challenge what’s considered traditional. “When people think of tradition, they view it as fixed or immobile,” he said. “You can still preserve culture and innovate at the same time. They’re not mutually exclusive pursuits. In fact, if your culture does not innovate or evolve then it becomes immobile and a dead culture.”

A raconteur, Makuakāne tells both old and new stories through hula. Traditional hula dances focus on the land and the Hawaiian people, but his choreography touches on edgier topics like imperialism and occupation. His 1996 production “The Natives Are Restless” explored the tragic history of Hawaii’s transformation from a sovereign monarchy to being annexed by the United States, which had overthrown the island nation’s first and only queen.

“I did this piece called ‘Salva Mea,’ which was about the missionaries. I dressed as a priest with techno music in the background and I was running around the stage with an 8-foot cross baptizing people,” he said. “It was like an incoherent, messy and incautious mix of tradition and experimentation that really worked. … People were blown away.”

That production set him on a path of experimentation ever since.

Hula often shies away from tough topics, he says, but hula is the right art form to tell these stories so that history doesn’t repeat itself. He credits San Francisco with being the perfect place for his art, a city known as a playground for experimentation, subversion and boundary pushing. Makuakāne arrived in the city around the time of Act Up, a grassroots political group working to end the AIDS epidemic. The group was known for its theatrical acts of civil disobedience, actions he calls influential.

He began studying hula at 13 years old. At 23, he moved to San Francisco for love — he followed a boyfriend who was a waiter at an exclusive French restaurant. After arriving in the city, Makuakāne taught hula to earn money. It was also his tie to Hawaii. He quickly attracted students and founded his award-winning hula school Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu (which means “many-feathered wreaths at the summit”). Over the past four decades, he estimated he’s taught thousands of students.

While he was building up his dance company, he studied Kinesiology at San Francisco State University. After graduating he continued teaching hula and working as a physical trainer. As his school grew, he devoted himself full-time to hula, a decision that’s paid off.

He was at Burning Man when he got the call from the MacArthur Foundation. He had no cell phone service and wasn’t sure why they called him. When he finally connected with the organization five days later, he was shocked. As the surprise wore off, guilt surfaced. So much of his work is entrenched in community and rests on the shoulders of his ancestors. “There are many people in my position who are deserving of an award such as this,” he said. “So, you do feel a bit guilty. Why me? Why not somebody else? How did I get noticed, you know?”

But then again, he has been at this for more than three decades and he’s one of only few taking hula in new directions. And he’s grateful to be in the perfect place to do it.

“[A friend once said,] “‘It must be nice being in San Francisco without someone looking over your shoulder, critiquing your every move.’ I was like, ‘Yeah it is,’” he said. “So that sense of liberation in your arts, feeling unshackled and doing whatever you want was a part of my process. I feel like I’m at a place really where I can do anything.”

Sexologist Rebecca Alvarez Story is the founder and CEO of Bloomi, which specializes in intimate health products for a bilingual audience

San Francisco State University alumna Rebecca Alvarez Story (M.A., ’17) didn’t get much sex education growing up. She went to an all-girl high school with an abstinence-only approach to sex ed, and her parents weren’t comfortable stepping in to explain the birds and the bees.

“In my home, we didn’t talk about sex education,” Story said. “My parents did try to have one awkward sex talk.”

Today, however, sex talk is far from awkward for Story. In fact, it’s both her business and her mission.

Story is the founder and CEO of Bloomi, a company offering intimate health products — oils, personal lubricants, sex aids and more — with an emphasis on bilingual marketing. The Bloomi line can be found in local spas and boutiques as well as national retailers like Target and Saks Fifth Avenue. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Story says she hopes to use Bloomi to bring quality sex education to a billion people around the globe, with an emphasis on expansion in Latin America.

Unfortunately, Story’s own sex education journey included a traumatic detour. A Bay Area native, Story originally went to Southern California to attend college. While there, she was sexually assaulted.

“That experience made me return home to reground myself,” Story said. “After that, I was very apprehensive about intimacy. I actually feared intimacy.”

Back in the Bay Area, Story became inspired to use her experiences as a way to heal, and she enrolled in the Women’s Health and Sexuality program at UC Berkeley.

“That was the beginning of me starting to understand the power of education in the category,” said Story.

Following graduation, Story worked with startups in sexual wellness focused on intimacy products, sex coaching and sex education. Eventually she decided to continue her education in the field at San Francisco State, where she enrolled in pursuit of a master’s degree in Sexuality Studies.

“I was a single mom when I started the program. My daughter was 3,” said Story. “She actually came to a few courses and was on the side with her headphones.”

On top of being a single mom and a graduate student, Story was working full-time as a sexologist.

“It made me feel good that I was doing things I love,” said Story. “My daughter learned a lot about me at such a young age. It was an important time in my development, and it was all things that I loved.”

Being a single mother and working full-time while pursuing a graduate degree is no small feat, and Story was fortunate to have support from her family and professors.

“All of the professors in the Human Sexuality program were incredible,” said Story. “They are very passionate about the work, which comes through in what they’re teaching.”

It wasn’t just the teaching that Story found inspiring. Thanks to her time working with startups, she also knew there were untapped audiences for sexual wellness products. 

“I had a lot of experience seeing what worked well and not so well with products in the category,” said Story. “The way that products were being marketed was very binary and stereotypical. I felt there was a world where we could be more inclusive about that.”

Story had also seen brands undervalue the Latinx market. She created Bloomi to be a bilingual brand, carving out an inclusive space within the sexual wellness industry and making the brand both unique and, for her, personal.

Despite her parents’ reluctance to discuss sex when she was younger, Story says her family has been supportive of Bloomi from the beginning. Now it gives her a deep feeling of satisfaction when, for instance, she and her father pass her company’s products for sale at Target.

“The feeling is incredible, but it’s hard to explain to people who aren’t children of immigrants,” said Story. “It’s very emotional because it’s not just another product on the shelf. It’s the realization of several generations of people striving to get ahead and get a better education and the American dream of starting this business.”

Learn more about SF State’s Sexuality Studies Program.

Juan Gonzales was honored at El Tecolote’s Golden Legacy Gala on Aug. 26 in San Francisco, which celebrated five decades of bilingual journalism in service of the Bay Area’s Latinx community.

Founder of state’s longest-running bilingual newspaper launched paper at SF State

From an early age, Juan Gonzales was always starting small businesses in and around his Stockton neighborhood. First, there were the Kool-Aid stands, then he picked fruit from his neighbors’ trees and sold them up and down his street. In middle school, he developed a passion for writing and later journalism. As a young adult, he combined entrepreneurship and journalism into one dream: starting a newspaper. But it was a goal he didn’t think he’d achieve until he reached his 40s.

But in 1970, six months after graduating from San Francisco State University’s Journalism program, 23-year-old Gonzales achieved his dream early — he launched El Tecolote, a bilingual newspaper serving San Francisco’s Mission District residents. How that paper came to be had a lot to do with what happened to Gonzales as an undergraduate student at San Francisco State. The paper, now in its 53rd year, is still going strong and is the state’s longest-running bilingual newspaper — a legacy that was recently celebrated at a special fundraising gala where Gonzales was also recognized.

After graduation, a professor asked him to teach a journalism class in SF State’s newly formed College of Ethnic Studies in the La Raza Studies Department. His class was called “La Raza Journalism,” and he taught students to write journalistically. Right away he realized there was a problem: There was no place to publish his students’ work. That’s when the idea came to launch a bilingual community newspaper in the Mission District.

With the help of SF State students and Mission residents, he launched El Tecolote in August of 1970. Gonzales promised he’d commit to the paper for at least five years. “Publishing one edition is easy, but consistency is key,” he said. “If you want to establish the paper as part of the neighborhood, people want to be able to see it every two weeks.”

For more than 50 years, El Tecolote has been the paper of record for the Mission District, documenting everything from gentrification and the housing shortage to conflicts between the police and the community. It’s done this at a time when community newspapers are vanishing. Gonzales credits the paper’s longevity to his and others’ dedication and “to the army of volunteers,” he noted

“The community is relying on [the] publication, and I think if you establish yourself as really providing good information and being relevant then the readership will stay with you, and hopefully even financially support you,” he said. And it’s helped that Gonzales doesn’t compromise on quality. “We have to give our readers quality work — good writing, good photographs, good layout … They expect the best, and we should give the best.”

Check out SF State’s Journalism department and the Latina/Latino Studies program.

Four notable alumni to be honored at Nov. 3 celebration

For the past 29 years, San Francisco State University has recognized alumni for their varied contributions to their communities, whether it’s through art, medicine or technology. This year’s Alumni Hall of Fame inductees have made an indelible imprint on the Bay Area and beyond in the world of banking, education, skateboarding, art, music and film. San Francisco State President Lynn Mahoney and the University community are proud to honor the four newest inductees at a celebration and dinner Friday, Nov. 3, at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco.

“This year’s inductees represent the diversity of the University and the city of San Francisco,” said Nicole Lange, associate vice president for alumni relations and university engagement. “This year, we’ll honor the president of an Indonesian bank with a 30-plus year career in finance, a longtime educator and school administrator turned professor, the publisher of an iconic skateboarding magazine and a filmmaker and musician whose films and music carry powerful messages about labor, wealth inequality and injustice. This group of accomplished alumni embody both the spirit of SF State and the city, and I couldn’t be prouder.”

Hall of Fame Inductees

‘Better Call Saul’ executive story editor Marion Dayre is an SF State lecturer, and she brought two of her former students to the picket lines 
 

For many San Francisco State University graduates with Hollywood dreams, moving to Los Angeles is a move for opportunity. While the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike has brought production to a halt industrywide since May, two former San Francisco State students have placed themselves on the picket lines alongside one of their faculty mentors.  

“It’s history in the making, so why wouldn’t you want to be there and try to make a change?” said Barbara Burgues, a Venezuela native who attended SF State in 2021 and now lives in Los Angeles with goals of producing, writing and directing. 

Her former SF State classmate Armando Jimenez picketed with her. Jimenez (B.A., ’22) is an aspiring screenwriter and director who moved to Southern California in the spring. 

“It’s natural for me to join the picket line. I get to fight for my future,” he said. “Especially since I’m hoping to get a job somewhere in that field; I hope to be able to afford the roof over my head.” 

Burgues and Jimenez were invited to the picket line by Marion Dayre, a lecturer in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts and executive story editor on the Emmy Award-winning “Better Call Saul.” (Streaming soon: She is the head writer on Marvel’s “Echo” and co-showrunner on Amazon Prime’s “Wytches.”)  

Dayre structures her “Television and Video Program Design” class to simulate the full preproduction process of developing a series for streaming. Writing is a major element, but students also learn to build a pitch and other tricks of the trade. As a rising star on the front lines, Dayre tells her students what conversations are like in the writers’ rooms and network executive suites, with self-care in mind. 

“If students are asking if they’re capable, I hope they would be able to find that assurance going through the process of the class,” Dayre said. “What I try to pass along is the importance of self-care as a writer. Knowing that we’re in a community with our anxieties, we don’t have to harbor them alone and navigate them alone. I try to come and be real.”

But then comes the question of existential doom: Is it a good time to move to Los Angeles to break into the industry? 

“It’s always risky and it’s always full of rewards. And I think now’s as good a time as any,” Dayre said. “I moved to LA during the last strike [in 2007 – 2008]. And everything worked out.” 

Alumnus David Pollock marches on the picket line. This year’s WGA strike is the fifth that he has participated in.

Shrinking seasons, shrinking compensation 

WGA members are striking to seek increases and equity in pay, improvements in work conditions and job security, measures to prevent harassment and discrimination, and the regulation of material generated with artificial intelligence. The guild is bargaining with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. 

“When I was watching television in the 1950s, there were 39 episodes a season. The same shows were on year after year, and they were all advertiser-driven,” said David Pollock (B.A., ’61), a retired Emmy Award-winning writer from classic programs such as “Frasier,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Carol Burnett Show” and “M*A*S*H*.” 

“Over the decades, incrementally, the number of episodes shrunk as the business expanded,” added Pollock, now retired but still a frequent WGA picketer. “We’re just burning up content faster and faster with shorter attention spans.” 

‘Another pause for the greater good’ 

Dayre says the camaraderie that it takes to write a quality script begins in the writers room and continues on the picket line, where she is a captain. 

“We had a slowdown during COVID, and now it comes time to take another pause for the greater good,” said Dayre, who has taught at SF State since 2021 and been a WGA member since 2014. “You’re never guaranteed the next job or the next spot, but you are guaranteed the ability to learn from brilliant writers and to help them when you can.” 

Jimenez says picketing has been a fun way to effect change and learn about the business side of entertainment. As an extra motion of solidarity, one day he brought two cases of water for the protestors. 

“I’m not a WGA member and, fortunately, you don’t have to be a WGA member to join the picket line. Nobody minds at all,” said Jimenez, who interns in project development for Dayre. “They have such a great community of people. I don’t usually see something so tight-knit where an entire huge group of people go, ‘Oh, we’re going to go on strike. We’re all going to do this.’ Plus, spending time with someone like Marion, it gives me comfort for the future.” 

Burgues only spent one semester at SF State, but it’s changed her life. She credits the University for sparking her creativity, and Dayre is a vital inspiration. 

“She’s just so understanding of how hard it can be to get into this industry, and it’s very easy talking to her,” Burgues said. “If it weren’t for her, I don’t think I would have had the courage to tell my parents, like, ‘Hey I’m going to be a writer and leave everything behind and just be a struggling international student.’ And I do not regret it at all.” 

Learn more about the SF State Broadcast and Electronic Commuinication Arts Department. 

Antar Johnson earned the coveted Six Star Medal after completing Tokyo marathon

As an undergraduate, Antar Johnson (’92, B.A.) majored in Economics at San Francisco State University, but he says his unofficial major was “kicking it.” He’s always been one for a party. It’s a personality trait that’s translated well professionally into networking, which he leveraged into a successful legal career. Surprisingly, this quality also helped him make great strides in long distance running — including completing his sixth world marathon, a requirement for the Six Star Medal.

The Six Star Medal has only existed since 2016. An invention of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a series of marathons around the globe, it honors runners who complete marathon runs in Boston, New York, Tokyo, Berlin, London and Chicago. Worldwide, there are 12,251 Six Star finishers, with 2,746 registered in the United States. More than 1,400 of those runners are men, according to the organization. Johnson believes a tiny fraction of those male runners are Black, even though the organization does not track runners’ ethnicity or race. “There’s about 35 of us, and we know because we’ve gone to all of the different races,” he said. “It’s definitely an elite type of thing.”

As a student at SF State, Johnson pledged the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, a national African American fraternity that’s still active at the University today. When he started running, he made sure to connect with fellow fraternity brothers as well as alumni from SF State and Temple University, where he went to law school. Those personal connections kept him challenged; he started comparing running distances, times and training schedules.

But his dedication to the sport didn’t happen overnight. He remembers telling friends who’d invited him on their 6 a.m. runs, “Running is for horses.” But at 47, Johnson gave it another shot at the prompting of his doctor.

Johnson is senior counsel for the Office of Lottery and Gaming in Washington, D.C., which means he works long hours sitting at a desk. After work he likes to enjoy D.C.’s nightlife, whether that’s going out to dinner or having drinks and cigars with friends and colleagues. Given his family history of cardiac issues and diabetes, his doctor told him he needed to change his sedentary lifestyle.

Johnson tried a few different fitness programs like P90X and Insanity high-intensity workouts and running in obstacle courses races. Those all seemed like a fast track to an injury, he says. He realized what he enjoyed most from those workouts was running, so he started running 5Ks. When friends encouraged him to step it up and try half marathons, he was game. Then they upped the ante again.

“‘So you’re doing all these half marathons. When are you going to do a real marathon?’” Johnson remembers his fraternity brother and mentor telling him. Johnson accepted the challenge, running his first marathon before turning 48, a personal goal. After completing two more, his running friends, who also happened to be fraternity brothers, convinced him to join their quest for the Six Star Medal. Not one to turn down a challenge, he began his journey for six as well.

Completing even one world marathon is difficult. These six races, attract runners from around the world, so the barrier for entry is high. Racers either need to qualify with their running times, fundraise or win a lottery to gain entry. Johnson opted to fundraise. On his five-year journey, which he finally completed in March after running the Tokyo marathon, he raised $24,000 for various charities, including childhood cancer.

His journey for six was longer than he planned because of COVID, but he finally completed it with a personal best running time (four hours and 49 minutes), all before another milestone: his 55th birthday.

Reflecting on his life and most recent accomplishment, he says pledging a fraternity at SF State changed his life. “I was able to network through my fraternity and meet a lot of good people who are still in my life,” he said. And it’s those friends who kept him committed to his quest. “Iron sharpens iron. We all just keep each other on these goal-oriented missions.”

To find out how you can get involved in a fraternity or sorority at SF State, visit the Student Activities & Events website.

Okorie L. Ramsey now serves as chair of both the American Institute of Certified Accountants and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants

In its 136-year history, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has had 110 chairs. Until this spring, only one of them had been Black, and none had been a Black male.

Now that’s changed thanks to San Francisco State University alumnus Okorie L. Ramsey (B.S., ’92): Ramsey has been named AICPA chair as well as the chair of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association). The organizations he now chairs represent nearly 700,000 members in 196 countries and territories.

San Francisco State Professor of Accounting Theresa Hammond, an expert on diversity in the accounting field, says Ramsey will lead AICPA and its members to greater Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) within the profession.

“Despite the fact that African Americans are 13% of the population, the percentage of CPAs who are Black stubbornly persists at less than 2%,” she said. “The AICPA did not admit its first Black member until 1942, and did not take a stand against discrimination until 1969. Okorie’s leadership in the AICPA illustrates how far the AICPA has come while also identifying the opportunity and work still needed to create a more inclusive profession.”

A native of Berkeley, California, Ramsey came to SF State to study business in 1988. He graduated in 1992 with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting. He later returned to the University to serve as an adjunct professor for two years, teaching graduate students about leadership, ethics and management.

“My education and collegiate experience at San Francisco State was foundational and instrumental in my career,” Ramsey said. “San Francisco State provided me with a strong education and exposure to campus organizations, including the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), Accounting Students Organization (ASO) and Beta Alpha Psi (BAP), and I served as an officer in all three organizations. At San Francisco State I learned critical skills such as business writing and speech in addition to my core accounting and business courses.”

Ramsey was named AICPA chair in May, and he continues serving as vice president of Sarbanes/Oxley (SOX) (a federal financial record-keeping law) for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., and Hospitals (Kaiser Permanente). Ramsey has been with Kaiser Permanente in a variety of roles since 2009. He’s also served on the board of directors with several organizations, including the Board of Trustees for the California Society of Certified Public Accountants Education Foundation, NABA and the Accounting Career Awareness Program (ACAP).

“We met when I joined the ACAP board in 2007; he served as chair for six years,” Hammond said. “ACAP serves Bay Area high school students by providing exposure to opportunities in accounting and business fields. His commitment to improving the economic and professional futures of young people is evidenced by his consistent volunteering to work with and inspire high school students. He is always willing and eager to plan and host field trips to Kaiser for Oakland high school students or to visit Oakland schools.”

Ramsey says supporting the next generation and giving them new opportunities to succeed is one of his top goals for AICPA.

“I view this as an incredible opportunity to support the growth and advancement of the profession and continue to build trust by empowering our members and engaged professionals with the knowledge and opportunities to be leaders in broadening prosperity for a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future,” he said.

Learn more about studying Accounting at SF State.