San Mai

Fr. San Mai, S.J., was born in Saigon, Vietnam, with his two sisters. He immigrated with his family to Portland, Oregon, in 1975 at the age of seven. San attended Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, where he met the Jesuits. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering in 1989 and a master’s in business administration in 1994. Although he was noticeably impressed with the joy and zeal he saw in the Jesuits at Santa Clara University, San did not feel called to religious life but rather to pursue the Silicon Valley dream. Prior to entering the Society of Jesus, San worked for 20 years in the Bay Area as a product management and marketing executive for various public and private technology companies. Calling his vocation “late and surprising, yet incredibly consoling” given his career in the corporate world, San entered the Society of Jesus in 2011. As a novice, he worked as a teaching assistant at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon. San then studied philosophy at Loyola University Chicago in 2013. Missioned next to St. Andrew Nativity School in Portland, Oregon, he worked for two years as a math and science teacher. This past May, San earned a Master of Divinity degree at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. He also served as a deacon and leader of children’s faith formation at Our Lady of Lourdes in Oakland, California. (USA West Province)