Sally Lucas
Educator/Philanthropist

San José State University

A graduate of San José State University and a former teacher in the Campbell School District, Sally Lucas has maintained a lifelong dedication to education and active participation in her community. She is a business leader and a philanthropist. Mrs. Lucas' commitment to the advancement of education and the arts in her community exemplifies the ideals of the California State University.

In 1964, Mrs. Lucas and her husband, Donald, co-founded the Lucas Dealership Group. She also owned and operated SL Interior Designs for 34 years. She is a longtime trustee for the nonprofit Montalvo Center for the Arts, where she was the motivating force behind the establishment of the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program in 2004. On the Montalvo Center for the Arts historic site in Saratoga, California, new facilities were designed to accommodate 10 discipline-specific studios for living, working, and exchanging ideas among culturally diverse fellows. The internationally recognized Lucas Residency Program is a model of curatorial practice for new and challenging contemporary work. With the hope of influencing others to support the university, Donald and Sally Lucas generously endowed San José State University to establish the Donald and Sally Lucas Graduate School of Business.

In addition to her philanthropic leadership at the Montalvo Center for the Arts and at San José State University, Mrs. Lucas also has charitable involvement with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley, the YWCA Villa Nueva, the YMCA and the North Hawaii Community Hospital, to name a few.

In recognition of her lifetime dedication to education and her commitment and support for programs in the arts for disadvantaged children, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and San José State University are proud to confer upon Sally Lucas the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.