S. I. Hayakawa with S. Joseph DeBrum, Donald Garrity, and Others

Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa (1906–1992) served as Acting President of San Francisco State College beginning in December 1968 and as President from 1969 to 1973. Donald Garrity served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and S. Joseph DeBrum was a faculty leader in business education during this period.

Dr. Donald L. Garrity was a distinguished sociologist and administrator who began his career at San Francisco State University (SFSU) in 1956 as an assistant professor of sociology. Rising quickly through the ranks, he became Chair of the Sociology Department in 1961 and was appointed Vice President for Academic Affairs in 1966. Garrity played a central role during one of the most challenging periods in SFSU’s history—the late 1960s student protests—working closely with Presidents John Summerskill and S.I. Hayakawa. In 1975, he was named Provost by President Paul Romberg, symbolizing his leadership role in guiding the university’s academic direction.Beyond campus, Garrity was deeply engaged in public service. He served on local and national panels, advised crime commissions, participated in educational initiatives, and was active in anti-poverty efforts. Internationally, he was honored by the Liberian government for his role in developing the Monrovia Consolidated School System, one of several SFSU-led global education projects. Garrity also contributed to conferences and symposia on urban planning, corrections, and education, reflecting his broad expertise in sociology and criminology.In 1978, Garrity left SFSU to become President of Central Washington University, where he served for 13 years until his retirement in 1991. During his tenure, he established international exchange programs with Japanese universities and significantly expanded the university’s foundation endowment. Dr. Garrity passed away in 1994 at the age of 67. He is remembered as a principled, dynamic leader who left a lasting legacy in both higher education and public service.

S. Joseph DeBrum. 1948. Professor of Business and Department Head for Business Education. BA (1934) San Jose State College; MA (1940) and Ed.D. (1948) Stanford University. Retired 1973. DeBrum’s high school textbook General Business for Economic Understanding was translated into Spanish Principios de Comercio con Fundamentos Matematicos for use in Latin American secondary schools. He was known to help students financially to get Ph.D.s, and at least one returned to teach at SF State. 

Credits: S. I. Hayakawa's bio, Dr. Donald Garrity's bio and Joseph DeBrum's bio were provided by Meredith Eliassen and the description was developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI.