Some Noteworthy Americans of Asian or Pacific Island Heritage

Welcome to the Internet School Library Media Center Asian American Biography Page. The following are individuals of Asian or Pacific Islands descent of possible interest to students. Students can do research and add to this list. This page is linked to Asian American Resources.

The following list was researched on the Internet. The individuals listed are just a tiny sample of noteworthy Americans. If you find any errors, I would appreciate your sending me corrections. Links are to biographical information where possible. In some cases biographical information was not available. In such cases, a link is made to some resource on the Internet in which the individual is identified.

The ISLMC is a meta-site for librarians, teachers, parents and students. You can search this site, use an index or sitemap. Revised 7/26/00

Related Sites: AAV APA Women's Wall of Fame
The Pride of Lebanon
Who Is Who. Prominent Chinese Americans
Indian-Americans of the Century
I Want My Son to be Proud [Arab Americans]
Filipino Achievers in the USA & Canada
Top Asian American Professionals

[Asian American Architects] [Asian American Artists & Entertainers] [Asian American Athletes] [Asian American Business People] [Asian American Educators] [Asian American Fashion Designers] [Asian Americans in Government] [Asian American Authors] [Asian Americans in the Military] [Asian American Scientists, Mathematicians] [Asian Americans in Non-Profit Agencies]

Asian American Architects
Maya Lin

Vietnam Memorial designer
Ieoh Ming Pei, Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, 1983
Pei Buildings

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Asian American Artists & Entertainers
Philip Ahn Actor
Toshiko Akiyoshi

Pianist; Jazz conductor with Toshiko Akioyshi Jazz Orchestra
Tia Carrere Actress
Han-Na Chang Cellist
Sarah Chang Violinist.
Margaret Cho Comedian
Connie Chung Television reporter
Kyung-Wha Chung Violinist
Ann Curry News Anchor Woman
Dean Devlin
Phoebe Eng
Sessue Hayakawa (1889-1973) Film actor,producer and writer. From Silent Artists Index
Nancy Kwan Actress
Brooke Lee Miss Universe 1997
Ang Lee Movie Director
Bruce Lee (1940-1973) Film actor, writer & director.
Chris Lee Founder Chris Lee Productions
K. W. Lee Journalist
Cho-Liang (Jimmy) Lin Violinist
Felicia Lowe Producer/Director
Yo Yo Ma Cellist; Winner of 1998 Best Classical Album Grammy Award
Pat Morita Actor; from Internet Movie Database
Haing Ngor Actor
Dustin Nguyen Actor
Yoko Ono Artist; musician; author
Seiji Ozawa Symphony conductor
Nam June Paik
Beulah Quo Actress
Keanu Reeves Actor
Phil Rhee Actor/producer. Courtesy of GoldSea
Peter Shiao Film producer
James Shigeta Actor
Kamiyama Sojin (1891-1954) Actor. From Silent Artists Index
Shoji Tabuchi Violinist; country western star in Branson, MO. Courtesy GoldSea
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Actor
George Takei Actor; Sulu from Star Trek
Renee Tajima-Pe-a Filmaker
Tamlyn Tomita Actress
Garrett Wang Actor
Wayne Wang Film director, producer
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) Actress. From Silent Artists Index
James Wong Television writer [Love the X Files]
Victor Wong Actor. [A favorite of mine]
Jessica Yu Filmmaker

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Asian American Athletes
Michael Chang Tennis
Amy Chow Gymnast. Article
Amy Feng Member 1996 U. S. Olympics table tennis team
Catherine Fox Olympic Gold Medalist; swimming
Kevin Han 1996 Olympics U. S. badminton team
Kyoko Ina U. S. Figure Skating Pairs Champion
Duke Kahanmoku Olympic Gold Medalist. Swimming
Paul Kariya Hockey player with Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Tommy Kono Olympic Gold Medalist. Weight lifting
Michelle Kwan Figure skater. World Champion
Nhi Lan Le Member gold medal teams at Olympic Festival in fencing; member 1996 Olympic team
Jeanette Lee World pocket billiards champion
Sammy Lee Olympic Gold Medalist in Diving 1948, 1952; coach of Greg Louganis
Greg Louganis Olympic Gold Medalist. Diving
Roger Mar U. S. Olympic team. Rapid-fire Pistol (Shooting)
John McNally Gold medalist, Pan Am Games. Men's Rapid-fire Pistol (Shooting)
Jim Vo Parque U. S. Olympic Teams, Baseball
Erika Von Heiland U. S. Olympic team, Badminton
Wei Wang Member 1996 U. S. Olympics table tennis team
Peter Westbrook U. S. Olympic Team, Men's Sabre (Fencing)
Tiger Woods Golfer. Winner, 1997 Masters
Kristi Yamaguchi Figure skating. Olympic Gold Medalist
Brian Yee Gymnastics
Lily Yip U. S. Olympic Team, Table Tennis
Felicia Zimmerman Junior World Cup Gold Medal; Women's Foil (Fencing)
David Zhuang Member 1996 U. S. Olympic table tennis team

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Asian American Business People
Pauline Lo Alker CEO, Network Peripherals
Susan Au Allen Lawyer, Panelist on PBS "To the Contrary"
Daniel Chang President/CEO AEM, Inc.
Gareth Chang Board of Directors, Apple Corp; Former Chairman, STAR TV
Ken Fong Founder of Clontech. Courtesy of GoldSea
Prabhat Goyal Chief Financial Officer, Network Associates
Benjamin Huang Founder, Winn, Inc. [space down for article]
Ji Li Jiang Founder/president East West Exchange, childen's book author
Kim Brothers (Harry Hyung-soon Kim, Charles Ho Kim) Businessmen; invented the "Sun Grand" nectarine
James Kuo Biotech venture capitalist. Courtesy GoldSea
Hanae Mori Founder of Hanae Mori International
Angela E. Oh

Attorney; public speaker; member Los Angeles City Human

Relations Commission
Scott D. Oki

Retired senior vice-president for sales & marketing, Microsoft.

Courtesy GoldSea
Srivats Sampath President, CEO, McAfee.com
Ashok Trivedi Co-Chairman/President, Mastech Corp.
Sunil Wadhwani Co-Chairman/CEO, Mastech Corp.
An Wang Scientist; founder of Wang Laboratories
Charles B. Wang Founder/CEO Computer Associates, Inc.
Robert Wang Chairman of Kistler Aerospace
Unni Warrier President/CEO, CyberMedia
Jerry Yang Co-founder of Yahoo
Henry C. Yuen Presiden/CEO Gemstar

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Asian American Educators
Gary Y. Okihiro

Director, Asian American Studies, Columbia University; ed. Journal

of Asian American Studies
Kathryn Au Assoc. Prof. of Education, University of Hawaii
Gordon Chang Associate Professor of History, Stanford
Yen Le Espiritu

Professor of Ethnic Studies Dept., UC, San Diego; ed. of

Journal of Asian American Studies
Lilly Wong Fillmore Professor; Stanford; Education in Language, Literacy & Culture
Lane Ryo Hirabayashi Professor of Anthropology, UC Berkeley
Ahn Chang Ho Father of Korean Independence Movement
Dorinne Kondo Professor of Anthropology, USC
Alan Liu

Professor of English; UC, Santa Barbara.

Developer of Voice of the Shuttle
John M. Liu

Associate Professor in Social Sciences, UC, Irvine.

Ed. of Journal of Asian American Studies.
Kent A. Ono Associate Professor, American and Asian American Studies, UC, Davis
David Palumbo-Liu Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, Stanford
Mary Lee Shon Social worker; author

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Fashion
Anna Sui Fashion designer
Vivienne Tam Fashion designer. Courtesy Channel A
Vera Wang Fashion designer

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Asian Americans in Government
Daniel K. Akaka Senator. Hawaii
Julia Chang Bloch

Former Ambassador to Nepal; Vice President, BankAmerica
March Fong Eu

Former California Secretary of State; Appointed U.S. Ambassador

to Micronesia, 1994
Eni F. H. Faleomavaega

American Samoa's Delegate to the House of Representatives
Maria Haley

Director and board member, Export-Import Bank of the United States

(independent federal agency; recipient of 1997 Ronald H. Brown Export

Enhancement Award
S. I. Hayakawa (1906-1992) Former U. S. Senator. California; educator
Daniel K. Inouye Senator. Hawaii
Congressman Ray LaHood House of Representatives, Illinois
Bill Lann Lee

Lawyer; Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights

Enforcement; Department of Justice
Ginger Lew

Deputy Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration
Gary Locke Governor, Washington State
Robert Matsui House of Representatives. California
Norman Y. Mineta

U.S. Secretary of Commerce; first Asian-American Cabinet member;

Former Congressman. California
Patsy Mink Congresswoman; Hawaii - Second District
George Mitchell Former Senator, Maine
Irene Natividad Chair, National Commission for Working Women;

panelist, PBS To The Contrary
Angela Oh Presidential Appointee. Initiative on Race Commission
Patricia Fukuda Saiki Former Member, U. S. House of Representatives, Hawaii
Donna E. Shalala Secretary, U.S. Dept. Health & Human Services
John Sununu Congressman, New Hampshire

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Asian American Authors
Jose Aruego Children's book illustrator
Haeme Balgassi Children's book author
Carlos Bulosan Author
Frank Chin Author
Phoebe Eng Author, lecturer
Sui-Sin Far (Edith Maude Eaton)
Le Ly Hayslip
Yumi Heo
David Henry Hwang Playwright
Gish Jen
C. Kadohata (Cynthia Kadohata) Author
Younghill Kang
Elaine Kim Professor; author
Maxine Hong Kingston
Gus Lee
Marie Lee
Bette Bao Lord
Wing Tek Lum
Bharati Mukherjee
John Okada
Jessica Saiki Author [Space down page]
Jade Wong Snow
Betty Lee Sung Professor; author. See The Story of the Chinese in America
Amy Tan
Laurence Yep
Yoshiko Uchida
Yoshiko Uchida
Grant Ujifusa Editor with Michael Barone of The Almanac of American Politics 1998
Abraham Verghese Physician; teacher; author
Shawn Wong
Hisaye Yamamoto
Belle Yang Author and painter

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Asian Americans in the Military
DefenseLINK News: 22 ASian Americans Inducted Into Hall of Heroes

Medal of Honor presented to 22 WWII Vets; 20 were members of the

Japanese American 100th Infantry Battalion or 442nd Regimental

Combat Team; One served with the 7th Infantry Division and one with

the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division
World War II: New Roles for Minorities

The 442nd Infantry Regiment; bravery of Second Lt. Daniel K. Inouye

From NARA
100th Infantry Battalion/442 Regimental Combat Team

Traveling exhibit from Nikkei Heritage Org.
U. S. Army. 442nd Regimental Combat Team

Most decorated military unit in U. S. history. World War II
Susan Ahn Cuddy Navy's first woman gunnery officer
Lt. Alfred Naifeh

Navy & Marine Corps. Medal; destroyer escort Naifeh named in his honor
Colonel Young Oak Kim

First Asian American to command a battalion in combat
Congressional Medal of Honor. Sadao S. Munemori

Read citation here. In alphabetical order
Ellison Onizuka

Mission Specialist; Challenger Crew
General Eric Shinseki

General; Chief of Staff, U. S. Army.
Major General Edward Soriano

Major General U. S. Army; Commanding General, 7th Infantry Division

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Asian American Scientists, Mathematicians, Science

Many of the following individuals are faculty members at institutions of higher learning.

Shiing-shen Chern

Mathematician and educator
Subramanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995)

Nobel Laureate in Physics. 1983
Steven Chu

Nobel Laureate in Physics. 1997
David Ho

Aids researcher
Har Gobind Khorana

Nobel Laureate in Medicine. 1968
Tsuing-Dao Lee

Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics. 1957
Yuan T. Lee

Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. 1986
Chang-Lin Tien

NEC Distinguished Professor of Engineering; former Chancellor of UC Berkeley
Samuel C. C. Ting

Nobel Laureate in Physics. 1976
Tuan Vo-Dinh

Inventor. Optical Diagnostic Equipment
An Wang (1920-1990)

Inventor. Principles of Magnetic Core Memory
Flossie Wong-Staal

Molecular biologist; AIDS Medical researcher
Chien-Shiung Wu

Inventor. Devices for Radiation-detection and Radioactive-decay

Wavelength Separation. Recently inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame
Chen Ning Yang

Nobel Laureate in Physics. 1957

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Asian Americans in Non-Profit Agencies
Susan Au Allen

President, United States Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce
Elaine Chao

Distinguished Fellow at the Heritage Foundation; Former Director

Peace Corp, Panelist PBS To The Contrary; former President & Chief

Executive Officer of United Way
Wendy Lee Gramm Director, Regulatory Studies Program, Mercatus Center
Florence Hongo

President of the Board & General Manager, Asian American

Curriculum Project
Helen Kawagoe

National President, Japanese American Citizens League
Daphne Kwok

Executive Director, Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA)
Sharon Maeda

Associate General Secretary for Mission Communication at General

Board of Global Ministries; former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public

Affairs, U. S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
Ralph Nader

Presidential candidate, consumer advocate, lawyer
Irene Natividad

Panelist, "To The Contrary" [Chair, National Committee for

Working Women]
Francey Lim Youngberg

Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American

Caucus Institute

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Return to: Asian Americans Resources