Professor Ken Yeager

Professor Ken Yeager
2023 Don Edwards Lecture

Ken Yeager received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Jose State University, and his master’s in Sociology and Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University. In 1984 he co-founded BAYMEC, a political action committee in the Bay Area that is still active today. In 1992, he was elected to the San Jose/Evergreen Community College Board, becoming the first openly gay official in Santa Clara County. He subsequently won election to the San Jose City Council in 2000 and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 2006. A long-time lecturer at SJSU, he returned to teaching in 2019 after being termed out of office. Ken is also the Executive Director of the BAYMEC Community Foundation and oversees the LGBTQ+ local history project Queer Silicon Valley.

Ken has published three books: Trailblazers: Profiles of America’s Gay and Lesbian Elected Officials, Childcare and Electoral Politics at the Local Level, and his latest, Run! My Story of LGBTQ+ Political Power, Equality, and Acceptance in Silicon Valley. In 2010, Metro Silicon Valley named Ken as one of the “25 People Who Changed Silicon Valley,” and in 2018, San Jose Spotlight selected him as one of the “15 Inspiring Leaders in Silicon Valley’s LGBTQ+ Community.”

Click here to see the 2023 Don Edwards Lecture. 
Date: November 8, 2023, 7:00pm
Location: Student Union Ballroom, San José State Campus