SJSU Awards Two Alums Honorary Doctorate Degrees at Fall 2021 Commencement Ceremonies

James E. Thompson, ’62 Aeronautics Operations, and Amelia Ashley-Ward, ‘79 Journalism, were conferred honorary degrees of Doctor of Humane Letters as part of San José State University’s fall 2021 commencement ceremonies. 

Thompson is the founder and chairman of the Crown Worldwide Group, one of the world’s largest relocation companies. Since 2009, he has funded the Thompson Global Internship Program at SJSU, through which Lucas College of Business students travel abroad to work for Crown Worldwide. 

James E. Thompson, ’62 Aeronautics Operations, is the founder and chairman of the Crown Worldwide Group, one of the world’s largest relocation companies.

Thompson has been a member of the Lucas College of Business Advisory Board since 2002, and was awarded the college’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009.

A member of Alpha Tau Omega at SJSU, Thompson bought and renovated the former ATO house for the fraternity in 2010. He and his wife, Sally, are well-known philanthropists; Thompson serves as chairman or board member of numerous charitable organizations in support of children, cancer, hospice, education and art. Thompson has an honorary doctorate from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His awards include the prestigious Gold Bauhinia Star and the DHL/South China Morning Post Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ashley-Ward is a newspaper publisher, editor and journalist for the Sun-Reporter, San Francisco’s oldest newspaper serving the Black community. 

Starting from her final year at San José State, Ashley-Ward progressed from intern to publisher  within 15 years at the Sun-Reporter. In 1997, she bought the Sun-Reporter Publishing Company, acquiring all three of the company’s newspapers: the California Voice, the Metro and the Sun-Reporter. Ashley-Ward also created the nonprofit Sun-Reporter Foundation in 2004, and was the founding president of the Young Adult Christian Movement.  

Amelia Ashley-Ward, ’79 Journalism is a newspaper publisher, editor and journalist for the Sun-Reporter, San Francisco’s oldest newspaper serving the Black community.

She served on the boards of the National Newspaper Publishers Association and the San Francisco branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Ashley-Ward has received many honors and awards while working at the Sun-Reporter Publishing Company. From the National Newspaper Publishers Association, she received the 1980 Photojournalism Award, the 1981 Feature Writing Award and, in 1998, was elected as Publisher of the Year. In 1997, she received the Woman of the Year award from the San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce.

Her accolades extend beyond the newspaper industry. In 2004, Ashley-Ward received the Alumnus of the Year award from the School of Journalism at San José State University and was the commencement speaker the same year. She was also honored in 2005, when she was selected as Woman of the Year by California State Senator Carole Migden. In 2008, Ashley-Ward was named one of the forty-nine Most Influential People in San Francisco by 7×7 Magazine.