Boardrooms"
Victoria Pilate
Dorm Rooms to
Boardrooms
Victoria Pilate
Dorm Rooms to
Boardrooms
"Dorm Rooms to
Boardrooms"
Victoria Pilate
Victoria Pilate
Dorm Rooms to
Boardrooms
Victoria Pilate
Dorm Rooms to
Boardrooms
"Dorm Rooms to
Boardrooms"
Victoria Pilate
Victoria Pilate, Ph.D.
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Many Americans are surprised to learn the rich history of Asian Americans. Asian
Americans have participated in American history from its early beginnings and
conflicts. Patriots of Asian descent served in the Union Army during the Civil War and
others served proudly in later conflicts. Though they were denied citizenship much the
same as African-Americans, they were loyal to the United States. Among the first
immigrants to the United States from Japan and China, there were harsh stories of
exploitation. These immigrants suffered from discrimination and mistreatment not
unlike African-Americans who were held as slaves. Asians were often relegated to
live in slum areas and the only jobs they often could get were as indentured servants
in mines and other hard labor jobs. The treatment often was little better than slavery.
Then Congressman Norman Mineta is credited with getting the U.S. Congress to pass
the first resolution to recognize Asian American History Month. At first, it was Asian
American History Week. The month of May was chosen in part to recognize the
contributions of Asians to the construction of the TransAtlantic railroad which was
completed in the month of May.
Americans have participated in American history from its early beginnings and
conflicts. Patriots of Asian descent served in the Union Army during the Civil War and
others served proudly in later conflicts. Though they were denied citizenship much the
same as African-Americans, they were loyal to the United States. Among the first
immigrants to the United States from Japan and China, there were harsh stories of
exploitation. These immigrants suffered from discrimination and mistreatment not
unlike African-Americans who were held as slaves. Asians were often relegated to
live in slum areas and the only jobs they often could get were as indentured servants
in mines and other hard labor jobs. The treatment often was little better than slavery.
Then Congressman Norman Mineta is credited with getting the U.S. Congress to pass
the first resolution to recognize Asian American History Month. At first, it was Asian
American History Week. The month of May was chosen in part to recognize the
contributions of Asians to the construction of the TransAtlantic railroad which was
completed in the month of May.
Asian - Pacific
Islander American
History Month
Islander American
History Month
Click here to download
APAHM bulletin board
images.
Click here for a
downloadable pdf file of
(1-flyer).
Click here for a
downloadable pdf file
(2-flyer).
Click here for a
downloadable 2008 pdf file
(3-flyer).
Click here for a downlodable
file (3-booklet).
APAHM bulletin board
images.
Click here for a
downloadable pdf file of
(1-flyer).
Click here for a
downloadable pdf file
(2-flyer).
Click here for a
downloadable 2008 pdf file
(3-flyer).
Click here for a downlodable
file (3-booklet).
Szeming Sze
Szeming Sze was born in China. He was married to Bessie Li, a pianist. They
lived in Shanghai but fled the Japanese invasion in 1941. The couple settled in
London where Sze studied medicine. He was inspired by his residency at St.
Thomas Hospital in a London slum to do public service. His medical career
took him from London to international circles. At the United Nations conference
in 1945, Sze, Geraldo da Paula Souza of Brazil, and Karl Evang of Norway
called for the creation of a single, international health organization. That group
became the World Health Organization (WHO) which is credited with eradicating
smallpox. He immigrated to the U.S. and later became a citizen. Dr. Sze retired
as UN medical director in 1968. He died in 1998 at age 90. In a life of public
service, Sze is credited with saving millions of children through vaccination
programs.
Jun Choi
Jun Choi graduated from MIT with an undergraduate degree then earned a
graduate degree in Public Policy from Columbia University. He is a Leadership
New Jersey fellow and has taught economics and public policy as an adjunct
professor.
In January 2006, Choi was sworn in as mayor of Edison, New Jersey, his
hometown. He is one of the nation’s youngest elected mayors. He was the first
Asian American to lead the city and is one of the few Asian Americans to lead a
U.S. city government. Choi breathed new life into the city by securing millions of
dollars in grants to preserve open space, upgrade parks and restore the Edison
Memorial Tower where Thomas Alva Edison perfected the incandescent light
Prior to elected office, Mayor Choi served as Executive Director of a Student
Achievement Task Force at the NJ Department of Education. He formerly
worked at the White House Budget Office and as a management consultant for
Ernst & Young LLP. (contains excerpts from the Edison, NJ, website and Jun
Choi’s website)
Michele Zalopany
Michele Zalopany grew up in the 1960s in Detroit which at the time was deeply
divided on race issues. Her father was a dark-skinned Hawai’ian who was an
international representative for the United Auto Workers. He endured many
racial taunts at work and otherwise. It was he was inspired her to give a voice to
the poor and oppressed.
After high school graduation, she attended the Cleveland Institute of Art and the
School of Visual Arts in New York City but left before graduation. Zalopany
embarked on a career in the arts, having exhibitions across the U.S. and Europe
from Italy and Germany. Being one of the few successful Pacific Islander artists,
she credits her success as an artist to teachers in her young years including her
stepmother who was an artist and teacher who believed in her and encouraged
her to practice art.
Zalopany made a commitment early on to be an artist. In an interview, she
explained, “at age fourteen, I looked at what I enjoyed the most in my life and
decided to pursue an art education by changing from a Catholic high school to
one of the best public high schools in the US, Cass Technical HS. The
environment there was constructed like a university with various, concentrated
departments. For the first time in my life, I was taken seriously by the practicing
artist/teachers and bloomed under their tutelage. It's very true that even with all
the talent in the world, without practicing, one will not develop.”
In 2001, Zalopany, despite having a successful arts career, decided to go back
to school to complete her education and take her work full circle in later
becoming a teacher. She graduated from Queens College with a graduate
degree in fine arts in 2006 and went on to teach at the Cranbrook Academy of
Art in Michigan then the Empire State College and later at the University of
Hawai’i at Manoa. She currently is a visiting lecturer at Harvard.
Her paintings reflect her passion for social justice. At first, her messages of
consciousness were subtly infused in her art but her latest work more overtly
expressed her ideals. Though critically acclaimed, these latest pieces have had
limited commercial success. Zalopany refuses to trade commercial success for
her ideals. (based on an article by Michael J. Amy in Art in America and my
email interview of Michele Zalopany)
Heather Fong
Heather Fong grew up in San Francisco under the mentoring of then-police
chief, Fred Lau. Fong credits Lau with inspiring her to public service. She
graduated from the University of San Francisco where she worked as a police
cadet. After joining the police force at age 21, she earned a master’s degree in
social work from San Francisco State University. Being fluent in Cantonese she
served as a liaison to Chinese community. In 1994 she was among the first
three women to be named captain. In 2004 she became the chief of police for
San Francisco after having served as acting police chief for several months.
Fong was the first Asian American woman to become police chief for the city and
the first for any major U.S. city. (based on the city of San Francisco website and
a San Francisco Chronicle article by Suzanne Herel)
Kiran and Pallavi Patel, M.D.
Kiran and Pallavi Patel, (both M.D.) made history in May 2005 when they
donated $18.5 million to University of South Florida, the university’s largest
single donation. The money will go to build and sustain a center for global
solutions. Dr. Kiran Patel is a cardiologist who was born in Zambia (west Africa)
and graduated from medical school at Gujarat Unversity in India. Dr. Pallavi
Patel was born in India. She attended Municipal Medical College of Gujarat
University in India. . She was in private practice in Kabwe, Zambia, from 1974 to
1978. In 1978, the Patels immigrated to the U.S. and both started their
residencies in New Jersey.
The Patels established a modern 50-bed charity hospital serving 100,000
villagers in India; provides funds to a recurring annual scholarship fund that
allows underprivileged children to obtain a college education. In addition, the
Patels funded the construction of the USF Charter School for Underprivileged
Children in Hillsborough County and has sponsored 25 orphans from India to
visit and perform a cross cultural program in the United States. Dr. Kiran Patel
built a billion-dollar company, providing service to more than 450,000 members,
employing more than 1,200 employees and operating in Florida, New York and
Connecticut. (based on the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center website)
Hiram L. Fong
Hiram L. Fong (nee’ Yau Leong Fong) was the son of Chinese immigrants. He
grew up in Hawai’i under modest circumstances but went on to become a
millionaire businessman and the first Asian-American elected to the United
States Senate. His father worked as an indentured laborer for a sugar
plantation and his mother was a maid.
Fong began working at the age of 4, when he picked and sold algarroba beans
for cattle feed. A few years later, he began selling newspapers and shining
shoes on the streets of Honolulu. Fong graduated with honors from the
University of Hawaii in 1930 and then worked a few years for the Honolulu
suburban water system. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1935.
Prior to statehood, he was a representative in the Hawaii Territory legislature.
When Hawai’i achieved statehood he ran and won. He was instrumental in
crafting civil rights legislation. His amendment to a civil rights bill required
auditors at polling places to assure minority voting rights, and he co-sponsored
a 1965 bill assuring that Asians would be allowed to immigrate in similar
numbers as people from other continents.
He died at 97 in 2004. (based on an Associated Press article) Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal is the first Asian American of Indian descent to be governor of a U.
S. state (Louisiana). Jindal is a native of Louisiana, born in June 1971. He
graduated from high school at an early age (16) and went on to Brown
University. After graduation he attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar
and graduated in 1994. Later he worked as a consultant then worked for the
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals turning a $400 million deficit into
a $220 million surplus in three years. Later he was appointed President of the
University of Louisiana System. In 2004 he became the first Asian American of
Indian descent to be elected to the U.S. Congress. He was sworn in as
governor in January 2008.
Thurgood Marshall, Jr .
Thurgood Marshall, Jr. (son of the famed jurist Thurgood Marshall and Hawai’ian
social activist Cissy Suyat Marshall) followed his late father into law. He
obtained an undergraduate degree and a law degree from the University of
Virginia. He began his legal career as a law clear to District Judge Barri D.
Parker then went on to work in various government positions including working
for then Senator Al Gore and later again for then Vice President Gore as
Director of Legislative Affairs and Deputy Counsel.
He has volunteered with various environmental conservation programs including
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, He also volunteers at a local food
bank in the Washington, D.C., area with his younger son.
In December 2006 he was appointed a Governor for the U.S. Postal Service. He
serves as a member of the Postal Service’s board's Audit and Finance
Committee and the Capital Projects Committee. In addition, Marshall is a partner
at Bingham McCutchen and a principal with the Bingham Consulting Group.
(based on www.sacbar.org and the U.S. Postal Service website)
Szeming Sze was born in China. He was married to Bessie Li, a pianist. They
lived in Shanghai but fled the Japanese invasion in 1941. The couple settled in
London where Sze studied medicine. He was inspired by his residency at St.
Thomas Hospital in a London slum to do public service. His medical career
took him from London to international circles. At the United Nations conference
in 1945, Sze, Geraldo da Paula Souza of Brazil, and Karl Evang of Norway
called for the creation of a single, international health organization. That group
became the World Health Organization (WHO) which is credited with eradicating
smallpox. He immigrated to the U.S. and later became a citizen. Dr. Sze retired
as UN medical director in 1968. He died in 1998 at age 90. In a life of public
service, Sze is credited with saving millions of children through vaccination
programs.
Jun Choi
Jun Choi graduated from MIT with an undergraduate degree then earned a
graduate degree in Public Policy from Columbia University. He is a Leadership
New Jersey fellow and has taught economics and public policy as an adjunct
professor.
In January 2006, Choi was sworn in as mayor of Edison, New Jersey, his
hometown. He is one of the nation’s youngest elected mayors. He was the first
Asian American to lead the city and is one of the few Asian Americans to lead a
U.S. city government. Choi breathed new life into the city by securing millions of
dollars in grants to preserve open space, upgrade parks and restore the Edison
Memorial Tower where Thomas Alva Edison perfected the incandescent light
Prior to elected office, Mayor Choi served as Executive Director of a Student
Achievement Task Force at the NJ Department of Education. He formerly
worked at the White House Budget Office and as a management consultant for
Ernst & Young LLP. (contains excerpts from the Edison, NJ, website and Jun
Choi’s website)
Michele Zalopany
Michele Zalopany grew up in the 1960s in Detroit which at the time was deeply
divided on race issues. Her father was a dark-skinned Hawai’ian who was an
international representative for the United Auto Workers. He endured many
racial taunts at work and otherwise. It was he was inspired her to give a voice to
the poor and oppressed.
After high school graduation, she attended the Cleveland Institute of Art and the
School of Visual Arts in New York City but left before graduation. Zalopany
embarked on a career in the arts, having exhibitions across the U.S. and Europe
from Italy and Germany. Being one of the few successful Pacific Islander artists,
she credits her success as an artist to teachers in her young years including her
stepmother who was an artist and teacher who believed in her and encouraged
her to practice art.
Zalopany made a commitment early on to be an artist. In an interview, she
explained, “at age fourteen, I looked at what I enjoyed the most in my life and
decided to pursue an art education by changing from a Catholic high school to
one of the best public high schools in the US, Cass Technical HS. The
environment there was constructed like a university with various, concentrated
departments. For the first time in my life, I was taken seriously by the practicing
artist/teachers and bloomed under their tutelage. It's very true that even with all
the talent in the world, without practicing, one will not develop.”
In 2001, Zalopany, despite having a successful arts career, decided to go back
to school to complete her education and take her work full circle in later
becoming a teacher. She graduated from Queens College with a graduate
degree in fine arts in 2006 and went on to teach at the Cranbrook Academy of
Art in Michigan then the Empire State College and later at the University of
Hawai’i at Manoa. She currently is a visiting lecturer at Harvard.
Her paintings reflect her passion for social justice. At first, her messages of
consciousness were subtly infused in her art but her latest work more overtly
expressed her ideals. Though critically acclaimed, these latest pieces have had
limited commercial success. Zalopany refuses to trade commercial success for
her ideals. (based on an article by Michael J. Amy in Art in America and my
email interview of Michele Zalopany)
Heather Fong
Heather Fong grew up in San Francisco under the mentoring of then-police
chief, Fred Lau. Fong credits Lau with inspiring her to public service. She
graduated from the University of San Francisco where she worked as a police
cadet. After joining the police force at age 21, she earned a master’s degree in
social work from San Francisco State University. Being fluent in Cantonese she
served as a liaison to Chinese community. In 1994 she was among the first
three women to be named captain. In 2004 she became the chief of police for
San Francisco after having served as acting police chief for several months.
Fong was the first Asian American woman to become police chief for the city and
the first for any major U.S. city. (based on the city of San Francisco website and
a San Francisco Chronicle article by Suzanne Herel)
Kiran and Pallavi Patel, M.D.
Kiran and Pallavi Patel, (both M.D.) made history in May 2005 when they
donated $18.5 million to University of South Florida, the university’s largest
single donation. The money will go to build and sustain a center for global
solutions. Dr. Kiran Patel is a cardiologist who was born in Zambia (west Africa)
and graduated from medical school at Gujarat Unversity in India. Dr. Pallavi
Patel was born in India. She attended Municipal Medical College of Gujarat
University in India. . She was in private practice in Kabwe, Zambia, from 1974 to
1978. In 1978, the Patels immigrated to the U.S. and both started their
residencies in New Jersey.
The Patels established a modern 50-bed charity hospital serving 100,000
villagers in India; provides funds to a recurring annual scholarship fund that
allows underprivileged children to obtain a college education. In addition, the
Patels funded the construction of the USF Charter School for Underprivileged
Children in Hillsborough County and has sponsored 25 orphans from India to
visit and perform a cross cultural program in the United States. Dr. Kiran Patel
built a billion-dollar company, providing service to more than 450,000 members,
employing more than 1,200 employees and operating in Florida, New York and
Connecticut. (based on the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center website)
Hiram L. Fong
Hiram L. Fong (nee’ Yau Leong Fong) was the son of Chinese immigrants. He
grew up in Hawai’i under modest circumstances but went on to become a
millionaire businessman and the first Asian-American elected to the United
States Senate. His father worked as an indentured laborer for a sugar
plantation and his mother was a maid.
Fong began working at the age of 4, when he picked and sold algarroba beans
for cattle feed. A few years later, he began selling newspapers and shining
shoes on the streets of Honolulu. Fong graduated with honors from the
University of Hawaii in 1930 and then worked a few years for the Honolulu
suburban water system. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1935.
Prior to statehood, he was a representative in the Hawaii Territory legislature.
When Hawai’i achieved statehood he ran and won. He was instrumental in
crafting civil rights legislation. His amendment to a civil rights bill required
auditors at polling places to assure minority voting rights, and he co-sponsored
a 1965 bill assuring that Asians would be allowed to immigrate in similar
numbers as people from other continents.
He died at 97 in 2004. (based on an Associated Press article) Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal is the first Asian American of Indian descent to be governor of a U.
S. state (Louisiana). Jindal is a native of Louisiana, born in June 1971. He
graduated from high school at an early age (16) and went on to Brown
University. After graduation he attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar
and graduated in 1994. Later he worked as a consultant then worked for the
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals turning a $400 million deficit into
a $220 million surplus in three years. Later he was appointed President of the
University of Louisiana System. In 2004 he became the first Asian American of
Indian descent to be elected to the U.S. Congress. He was sworn in as
governor in January 2008.
Thurgood Marshall, Jr .
Thurgood Marshall, Jr. (son of the famed jurist Thurgood Marshall and Hawai’ian
social activist Cissy Suyat Marshall) followed his late father into law. He
obtained an undergraduate degree and a law degree from the University of
Virginia. He began his legal career as a law clear to District Judge Barri D.
Parker then went on to work in various government positions including working
for then Senator Al Gore and later again for then Vice President Gore as
Director of Legislative Affairs and Deputy Counsel.
He has volunteered with various environmental conservation programs including
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, He also volunteers at a local food
bank in the Washington, D.C., area with his younger son.
In December 2006 he was appointed a Governor for the U.S. Postal Service. He
serves as a member of the Postal Service’s board's Audit and Finance
Committee and the Capital Projects Committee. In addition, Marshall is a partner
at Bingham McCutchen and a principal with the Bingham Consulting Group.
(based on www.sacbar.org and the U.S. Postal Service website)
