Frederic Lister Burk (1862-1924). Founding President 1899-1924. Burk graduated from University of California. Burk worked as a journalist to finance his first graduate studies at Stanford University where he earned his M.A. in 1892. Burk served as Superintendent of Schools in Santa Rosa, California, before relocating to Worchester, Massachusetts in 1896 to study for his Ph.D. with G. Stanley Hall, before accepting the position of founding President at San Francisco State Normal School, after it was created by an Act of the California State Legislature on March 22, 1899. Burk served as President for twenty-five years garnering SF State an international reputation for his individualized instruction method.
