LFCoB

Throughout his career, Charlie Overmire (B.S. ’87, International Business) saw firsthand how many young people struggled with basic financial concepts. As he approached retirement, he and his wife, Diane, decided to address the problem.

In 2025, they established the Overmire Family Endowed Internship in Finance and Economics at San Francisco State University. The program enhances the Finance and Economics Department curriculum with content, events, and activities that promote financial literacy and healthy money habits, helping students become more confident and responsible decision-makers.

Under the leadership of fund director Venoo Kakar, professor of Economics in SFSU’s Lam Family College of Business, the program has already hosted events such as a campus screening of the award-winning documentary This Is Not Financial Advice. The March event drew about 100 attendees, mostly students, and featured a live interview with director Zach Ingrasci and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) director Jacob Yunger.

“College students often navigate financial decisions with limited resources, making them one of the more financially vulnerable populations on campus,” Kakar says. “This endowed internship is designed to meet them where they are, equipping them with practical knowledge and confidence in financial decision-making.”

The film examines crypto investing through the story of Dogecoin investor Glauber “Pro” Contessoto, offering a cautionary look at modern investing and social media influence. Overmire intern Ling-Fong Chung, a first-year master’s student in SFSU’s Quantitative Economics program, helped organize the event, which sparked strong engagement from students.

“College students often navigate financial decisions with limited resources, making them one of the more financially vulnerable populations on campus. This endowed internship is designed to meet them where they are, equipping them with practical knowledge and confidence in financial decision-making.”

—Venoo Kakar, professor of Economics in SFSU’s Lam Family College of Business

Professor Kakar hopes the program will expand its reach across campus through additional events and programming.

“The internship represents a unique opportunity to advance student-centered financial literacy programming at SFSU,” Professor Kakar says. “It provides hands-on experience in translating financial concepts into accessible, relevant initiatives that resonate with peers. Through the intern’s role, the initiative empowers students to normalize conversations about money and fosters a culture of informed financial decision-making across the SFSU community. This is especially relevant at a time when many Gen Z and millennial students turn to social media for financial advice.”

“The initiative empowers students to normalize conversations about money and fosters a culture of informed financial decision-making across the SFSU community. This is especially relevant at a time when many Gen Z and millennial students turn to social media for financial advice.” 

—Venoo Kakar, professor of Economics in SFSU’s Lam Family College of Business

Ling-Fong, who graduated from the University of California Berkeley with a degree in biophysics, has already seen that interest grow. “Students from across the campus are interested and want more education on financial literacy and personal finance,” she says. “I personally spoke with clubs as diverse as the Financial Technology, Black Student Union and Cinema student orgs, who are considering putting on their own financial literacy events because their members were asking for some guidance.”

She is also launching, under Professor Kakar’s guidance, a book club centered on The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, with copies distributed at the March screening through the Overmires’ gift.

“The book club is happening not only to take advantage of this gift, but also to talk about the emotions that are, many times, behind personal finance decisions,” Ling-Fong says. “I appreciate that as the Overmire Family Endowment intern, I was given a chance to learn more about financial literacy, student leadership, salesmanship, and behavior.”

“The book club [centered on The Psychology of Money] is happening not only to take advantage of this gift, but also to talk about the emotions that are, many times, behind personal finance decisions.”

—Ling-Fong Chung, Overmire Family Endowment intern & first-year master’s student 
in SFSU’s Quantitative Economics program

For Charlie, the motivation to give back reflects his gratitude to SFSU.

“SFSU helped me be successful and get to a point where I could give back, so hopefully we can create some skillsets in students so that 30, 40 years from now they’re doing the same thing for the University,” he says.

“I don’t think that I would have progressed as far in my career without a degree from San Francisco State, as getting promoted up through the management ranks would have been a lot tougher. Also, we didn’t have financial literacy (courses) back then, but San Francisco State taught me how to think critically. It taught me how to communicate professionally and manage people. So now we’re just giving back to the institution that helped me throughout my career.”

“I don’t think that I would have progressed as far in my career without a degree from San Francisco State. [...] San Francisco State taught me how to think critically. It taught me how to communicate professionally and manage people. So now we’re just giving back to the institution that helped me throughout my career.” 

—Charlie Overmire (B.S. ’87)

Denny and Baird teamed up and gained more clients to handle electronic billing to Medicare, Medi-Cal, and other large insurers. Their business, Data Systems Group, caught on, and was purchased by Bluebird, which has since been acquired by Experian Healthcare.

As Denny says, “My party line is I woke up on January 1, 2013 with money in the bank and time on my hands.” As part of the sale, Denny set up a donor advised fund (DAF). A devout Christian, Denny and his wife Barbara share a passion for tithing and they have chosen, through their DAF, to set up a scholarship for SFSU undergraduate students who are majoring in Computer Science, are the first generation in their family to go to college, and who have demonstrated financial need.

“It breaks my heart,” Denny said when asked about his motivation for setting up the scholarship. “College is so damned expensive, and you can’t go there on your own. I’m hoping that this will help them through school and they’ll have a college degree and one thing will lead to another, and then to another.”

Much like one thing led to another and another for Denny, he’s hoping that recipients of the Luther Family Scholarship will find the financial support he and Barbara offer impactful to put them on the course to life-changing learning experiences.

“It breaks my heart. College is so damned expensive, and you can’t go there on your own. I’m hoping that this will help them through school and they’ll have a college degree and one thing will lead to another, and then to another."

—Dennis Luther (B.A., Business Administration, ’65)

Denny is grateful that he attended SFSU, something he calls a wonderful experience. “I still have friends from State. I wasn’t sure that I had the wherewithal to be a college student, but then in my sophomore year I got a B in biology and said, ‘Well, I can do this!’”

Not only could he do it, but Denny did it very well. And, today he stands by the words on the customized donor brick he placed outside of the Nassar Family Gym: “Denny Luther ’65, SF State Did Me Right.”