Ladda Tammy Duckworth
Ladda Tammy Duckworth was born on March 12, 1968, in Bangkok, Thailand. Her mother was of Chinese descent and her father of British. As a teenager she moved to Hawaii with her family and later attended the University of Hawaii. She then went to George Washington University to pursue a Master of Arts Degree in International Affairs and then Northern Illinois University to earn a Ph.D. in Political Science. She also enrolled in the Reserve Officers Training Corps with the Illinois National Guard, where she was trained as a Blackhawk pilot. She was deployed to Iraq in 2004 under Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the autumn of 2004, her helicopter was struck down by a rocket propelled grenade, injuring her severely. She lost both of her legs and full function in her right arm, but still she remained proud to have served in the military. She was promoted to Major and given the Purple Heart for her bravery and sacrifice. Influenced by her stay in the military hospital, she became an activist for better medical care for wounded veterans and their families.
Amy Tan
Amy Tan was born in February, 1952, in Oakland, California. After the death of her father and older brother, she moved to Europe with her mother and younger brother. She attended high school in Monteux, Switzerland, and returned to the U.S. for college. She attended Linfield College in Oregon, San Jose City College, San Jose State University, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and the University of California at Berkeley. In 1989 she published “The Joy Luck Club”, a story about the relationships between Chinese mothers and their Chinese-American daughters. This book became the longest-running New York Times bestseller for that year. The book also received many awards, one of which was the Los Angeles Times Book Award. “The Joy Luck Club” was translated into 25 different languages and was also made into a motion picture in which she co-wrote the screenplay. Amy Tan has also written other bestsellers such as “The Kitchen God’s Wife” and “The Hundred Secret Senses”. She has also written several children’s books including “The Moon Lady” and “Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat”.
Julia Chang Bloch
Julia Chang Bloch was born in 1942 in Chefoo (now Yantai), Shandong Province, China. She moved to the U.S. when she was nine years old and grew up in San Francisco. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley and in 1967, a Master’s degree in Government and East Asia Regional Studies from Harvard University. She also received an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Northeastern University in 1986. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sabah, Malaysia, in 1964, and from 1981 to 1988, she served at the US Agency for International Development as Assistant Administrator for Food for Peace and Voluntary Assistance and as Assistant Administrator for Asia and the Near East. She became Ambassador to the Kingdom of Nepal in 1989, being the first Asian American to reach the rank of Ambassador. She also contributed greatly to cooperate an philanthropic sectors in later years. In 1996, she served as President and CEO of the United States-Japan Foundation, a private grant making institution. She is now President of the US-China Education Trust, a non-profit organization working in China to promote US-China relations through education. She also works with Fudan University in Shanghai, China, where is works as Distinguished Adviser of the School of International and Public Affairs and Visiting Professor at the Center for American Studies.
Herbert Young Cho Choy
Herbert Choy was born January 6, 1916, on Kauai, Hawaii, the son of Korean immigrants. He attended the University of Hawaii and then Harvard Law School, earning his law degree. He served in the Army during World War II and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. He became a partner to his first Law Firm within a year, and continued private practice until 1957. He then became the Attorney General for the State of Hawaii. The following year, however, he returned to private practice for about another decade, until in 1971 when he was nominated by President Nixon to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He was the first Asian American to become a judge on the United States Court of Appeals. He was also the first federal judge from Hawaii to be appointed to the Federal Court of Appeals. He also served on a many number of committees involving improving the social structure of Hawaii. For his service he received several awards, including the Order of Civil Merit from the Republic of Korea in 1973. Herbert Young Cho Choy died on March 10, 2004.
Amar Gopal Bose
Amar Gopal Bose was born on November 2, 1929, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. His father was Bengali and his mother was a white American. He enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering. He then spent a year in Eindhoven, Netherlands and New Delhi, India in research labs. After this he completed his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from MIT. He then took a position as Assistant Professor at MIT and continued his own research, focusing on acoustics. Throughout this time, he acquired two patents related to speaker design and power processing. He also founded the Bose Corporation to which he was also chairman. In 2011, he donated a majority of the company’s non-voting shares to MIT in order to further advance its research mission and education. Along with running his company, Bose remained a professor at MIT until 2001. Amar Gopal Bose died on July 12, 2013.
Daniel Ken Inouye
Daniel Inouye was born on September 7, 1942, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He attended public high school and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii. He received his law degree from George Washington University. He volunteered for service during World War II and served in the 442nd Regimen tal Combat Team, which was composed of soldiers of Japanese Ancestry. The 442nd was also one of the most decorated military units in U.S. history. During combat he lost his right arm, and for his service, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart with Cluster. After the war he practiced law and soon after entered territorial politics and when Hawaii became a state, he was one of its first Representatives in the U.S. Congress. He then won the election to the Senate in 1962, and has been one of, if not the, longest serving Asian Americans in the U.S. government, also holding the highest position as the Senate’s President Pro Tempore from 2010 until his death on December 17, 2012. In 2013 Senator Daniel Ken Inouye was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously, becoming the first Senator to receive the honor of both the Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Honor.
Ladda Tammy Duckworth was born on March 12, 1968, in Bangkok, Thailand. Her mother was of Chinese descent and her father of British. As a teenager she moved to Hawaii with her family and later attended the University of Hawaii. She then went to George Washington University to pursue a Master of Arts Degree in International Affairs and then Northern Illinois University to earn a Ph.D. in Political Science. She also enrolled in the Reserve Officers Training Corps with the Illinois National Guard, where she was trained as a Blackhawk pilot. She was deployed to Iraq in 2004 under Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the autumn of 2004, her helicopter was struck down by a rocket propelled grenade, injuring her severely. She lost both of her legs and full function in her right arm, but still she remained proud to have served in the military. She was promoted to Major and given the Purple Heart for her bravery and sacrifice. Influenced by her stay in the military hospital, she became an activist for better medical care for wounded veterans and their families.
Amy Tan
Amy Tan was born in February, 1952, in Oakland, California. After the death of her father and older brother, she moved to Europe with her mother and younger brother. She attended high school in Monteux, Switzerland, and returned to the U.S. for college. She attended Linfield College in Oregon, San Jose City College, San Jose State University, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and the University of California at Berkeley. In 1989 she published “The Joy Luck Club”, a story about the relationships between Chinese mothers and their Chinese-American daughters. This book became the longest-running New York Times bestseller for that year. The book also received many awards, one of which was the Los Angeles Times Book Award. “The Joy Luck Club” was translated into 25 different languages and was also made into a motion picture in which she co-wrote the screenplay. Amy Tan has also written other bestsellers such as “The Kitchen God’s Wife” and “The Hundred Secret Senses”. She has also written several children’s books including “The Moon Lady” and “Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat”.
Julia Chang Bloch
Julia Chang Bloch was born in 1942 in Chefoo (now Yantai), Shandong Province, China. She moved to the U.S. when she was nine years old and grew up in San Francisco. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley and in 1967, a Master’s degree in Government and East Asia Regional Studies from Harvard University. She also received an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Northeastern University in 1986. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sabah, Malaysia, in 1964, and from 1981 to 1988, she served at the US Agency for International Development as Assistant Administrator for Food for Peace and Voluntary Assistance and as Assistant Administrator for Asia and the Near East. She became Ambassador to the Kingdom of Nepal in 1989, being the first Asian American to reach the rank of Ambassador. She also contributed greatly to cooperate an philanthropic sectors in later years. In 1996, she served as President and CEO of the United States-Japan Foundation, a private grant making institution. She is now President of the US-China Education Trust, a non-profit organization working in China to promote US-China relations through education. She also works with Fudan University in Shanghai, China, where is works as Distinguished Adviser of the School of International and Public Affairs and Visiting Professor at the Center for American Studies.
Herbert Young Cho Choy
Herbert Choy was born January 6, 1916, on Kauai, Hawaii, the son of Korean immigrants. He attended the University of Hawaii and then Harvard Law School, earning his law degree. He served in the Army during World War II and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. He became a partner to his first Law Firm within a year, and continued private practice until 1957. He then became the Attorney General for the State of Hawaii. The following year, however, he returned to private practice for about another decade, until in 1971 when he was nominated by President Nixon to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He was the first Asian American to become a judge on the United States Court of Appeals. He was also the first federal judge from Hawaii to be appointed to the Federal Court of Appeals. He also served on a many number of committees involving improving the social structure of Hawaii. For his service he received several awards, including the Order of Civil Merit from the Republic of Korea in 1973. Herbert Young Cho Choy died on March 10, 2004.
Amar Gopal Bose
Amar Gopal Bose was born on November 2, 1929, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. His father was Bengali and his mother was a white American. He enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering. He then spent a year in Eindhoven, Netherlands and New Delhi, India in research labs. After this he completed his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from MIT. He then took a position as Assistant Professor at MIT and continued his own research, focusing on acoustics. Throughout this time, he acquired two patents related to speaker design and power processing. He also founded the Bose Corporation to which he was also chairman. In 2011, he donated a majority of the company’s non-voting shares to MIT in order to further advance its research mission and education. Along with running his company, Bose remained a professor at MIT until 2001. Amar Gopal Bose died on July 12, 2013.
Daniel Ken Inouye
Daniel Inouye was born on September 7, 1942, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He attended public high school and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii. He received his law degree from George Washington University. He volunteered for service during World War II and served in the 442nd Regimen tal Combat Team, which was composed of soldiers of Japanese Ancestry. The 442nd was also one of the most decorated military units in U.S. history. During combat he lost his right arm, and for his service, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart with Cluster. After the war he practiced law and soon after entered territorial politics and when Hawaii became a state, he was one of its first Representatives in the U.S. Congress. He then won the election to the Senate in 1962, and has been one of, if not the, longest serving Asian Americans in the U.S. government, also holding the highest position as the Senate’s President Pro Tempore from 2010 until his death on December 17, 2012. In 2013 Senator Daniel Ken Inouye was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously, becoming the first Senator to receive the honor of both the Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Honor.