SAN FRANCISCO—On Friday, August 14, James Fang, a former employee at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board died of a heart attack.

Fang, 59, the son of Florence Fang, was born in San Francisco. He is survived by his mother and his wife Daphne.

He was an alumni of the University of California, Berkeley. He also attended Hastings College of Law. When Fang was in college, he was a member of the California State Bar. Fang also served as a law clerk in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In November 1990, James Fang was elected to the BART Board. He served in the position for 24 years. Fang served as the President of the BART Board during the year of 2004. In 2014, Nick Josefowitz, a clean-energy entrepreneur defeated Fang in the BART board of directors race.

According to an article by KQED, during the time serving at BART Board, Fang was known for extending BART out to Ocean Beach through San Francisco’s west side.

Fang also worked for former San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan as director of commerce and trade in the administration.

Besides working in politics, Fang worked as a publisher for many years. According to a statement from UC Berkeley, Fang was the President of AsianWeek, the largest circulation Asian-American publication across the country.