Amy Sueyoshi

A faculty member at SF State since 2002, Sueyoshi previously served as director of Race and Resistance Studies (2006 – 2012) and associate dean of the College of Ethnic Studies (2012 – 2017). Sueyoshi has been the first in many roles in her time at SF State: first hire in Queer Studies in the College of Ethnic Studies, first female dean of the College of Ethnic Studies and now the first person of color to serve as provost

Sueyoshi has also distinguished herself by being the first Japanese American to be Community Grand Marshal at San Francisco Pride, founding the APIQWTC scholarship, serving as founding curator of the first queer history museum in the U.S. and initiating the online undergraduate certificate in Ethnic Studies for incarcerated youth. 

She holds a Ph.D. in history from University of California, Los Angeles and a B.A. from Barnard College of Columbia University. Amy’s research interests lie primarily at the intersection of Asian American and queer studies.  A noted scholar, Sueyoshi is the author of “Discriminating Sex: White Leisure and the Making of the American ‘Oriental’” and “Queer Compulsions: Race, Nation, and Sexuality in the Affairs of Yone Noguchi,” as well as numerous scholarly articles and essays.  She additionally wrote the section on API queer history for the National Parks Foundation’s LGBTQ theme study which won the Paul E. Buchanan Award for Excellence in Field Work, Interpretation, and Public Service. She is a founding co-curator of the GLBT History Museum, the first queer history museum in the United States, and the recipient of the Willie Walker Award for service to the GLBT Historical Society as well as the Phoenix Award for APIQWTC.