The George Ramos Cal Poly Journalism Endowment will support student scholarships and various program developments. According to a release, the department also hopes to appoint an endowed chair to support the education of future journalists.
George reported for the Los Angeles Times for 25 years as a reporter, editor, bureau chief, and columnist. He was a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
In 1984, he won the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Meritorious Public Service, as part of the team that produced a three-week series of stories about the roots, lives and aspirations of the 3 million Latinos who lived in Southern California. He won his second Pulitzer in 1993, for on-the-spot reporting on the Rodney King riots. He picked up a third Pulitzer in 1995 for his on-the-spot reporting of the Northridge earthquake.
A graduate of Cal Poly, he left the LAT in 2003 to become of Cal Poly Journalism Department Chair – a role he held until 2007.
He died at age 63 in July of last year.