Study Abroad

Frederick Gaines has been the Chair of Ethnic Studies since 2008 at the College of San Mateo (CSM) in San Mateo, California, and has worked in higher education since 1998. For 10 years, he worked as an adjunct professor at several community colleges including Contra Costa College, City College of San Francisco, Solano Community College, College of Alameda, and also San Francisco State University. Before he transitioned to higher education, he was the Principal of Walden Academy which was a part of a therapeutic community for adolescents. He served as the Educational Coordinator at Samaritan House, as Coordinator of the Urban Institute’s Stay-In School Family Resource Center at San Francisco State University, and as Executive Director of Aspire, a college prep and after-school program in North Central San Mateo. Frederick was born and raised in Prague, OK, and attended High School at Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City, where he excelled in football and received a scholarship to play college football at Wichita State University. There he earned his B.A. in psychology. He later earned his M.A. in Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University and his doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of California at Davis. His research interest includes the African-American Male Community College Athlete and the African-American Male in higher education. He has taught a variety of Ethnic Studies courses which include: Asian-American Studies, Latin-American Studies, African American Cinema, Black Leadership Theory, The Evolution of Hip-Hop Culture, Black Leadership, and African-American History and Culture. He also served as Co-Coordinator of the Umoja Learning Community at CSM from its inception to 2023 (10 years). He has been married for over 31 years to Jamie and has three adult children: Chrissa - USC graduate, Freddie - CSM, Cal Poly Graduate and Tiger – CSM graduate and presently attending U.C. Berkeley.