SF STATE NEWS -- “Our alumni have made strides in educational equity, social justice and entertainment,” said Nicole Lange, interim executive director of SF State Alumni and Constituent Relations. “The Alumni Hall of Fame celebration is our way of recognizing their accomplishments while inspiring the next generation of educators, activists, archivists and entertainers.”
Robert Garfias (A.B., ’56) is a world-renowned ethnomusicologist. The San Francisco native is a professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, where he also served as dean of the School of Arts.
Founder of the ethnomusicology program at the University of Washington, Garfias’ research focuses on Japanese court music and Turkish Ottoman classical music. He’s conducted field research in regions including Japan, Korea and the Philippines, and his vast collection of documentary films and sound recordings can be heard and viewed in the University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives. He graduated from SF State with a degree in Anthropology.
John Stanley (B.A., ’62) has dedicated his career to preserving and reviving the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres. He worked as an entertainment critic at the San Francisco Chronicle from the 1960s through the early 1990s. During this time he hosted Creature Features, a popular Saturday night Bay Area television series, which aired for 14 years. He graduated from SF State with a degree in Literature.
In 1981, he established his own publishing company, Creatures at Large Press. He has written 18 books, including six editions of the long-running Creature Features Movie Guide series (1981 – 2000), reviewing thousands of horror, sci-fi and fantasy films.