Mr. Yamate served as vice president and general counsel for Knight Ridder when it was the second-largest newspaper company in the U.S. Prior to that, he was vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of Liberate Technologies, a firm that developed software for accessing the internet through television boxes and other internet appliances, and before that was a partner in the Silicon Valley offices of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, specializing in corporate securities and intellectual property law. Since Knight Ridder’s sale to McClatchy in 2006, he has focused more extensively on philanthropic endeavors, including service as past chair of Silicon Valley FACES, chair-elect of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, and board member of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. He is an adjunct lecturer at Santa Clara Law, where he teaches a corporate governance seminar; he also co-chaired the 2009 Santa Clara Law Strategic Planning Committee. He continues to chair the In-House Committee of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

“Santa Clara Law’s focus on high tech and public service has helped distinguish it,” he says, “and while I didn’t consciously think about it in law school, I realize that the school’s emphasis on ethical thinking guided me in my corporate career and in the nonprofit work I’m doing now.”