John Rickard May was the first executive director of the San Francisco Foundation, a grant-making foundation established in 1948. Born in Denver in 1909, May moved to the Bay Area at a young age and went on to graduate from Stanford University in 1931. He then worked briefly with the Office of Price Administration and the United States Navy during the war years before joining onto the developing San Francisco Foundation project, where he stayed until his retirement in 1974. In his 25 years as executive director, he witnessed the evolution of grant making and of the Distribution Committee, as well as the foundation’s ever-growing connection to the Bay Area community. In this interview, May discusses the foundation’s growth and development, changing operational policies, the granting procedure, and the nature of philanthropy. This interview constitutes the first of five volumes of the Bay Area Foundation History project.