THE 80 MOST INSPIRING ASIAN AMERICANS OF ALL TIME
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GOLDSEA | ASIAMS.NET | ASIAN AMERICAN PERSONALITIES
THE 80 MOST INSPIRING ASIAN AMERICANS OF ALL TIME
31. Roman Gabriel
This son of a Filipino immigrant was the first Asian American to start as an NFL quarterback. He enjoyed several glorious years with the Rams in the 60s, then a year with the Eagles in the 1973. Unfortunately, Gabriel only serves as a retrospective role model -- few Asian Americans even suspected his ethnicity until two decades after his retirement.
32. Steven Chu
By devising a brilliant method for using six lasers to trap and cool sodium atoms down to 240 millionths of a degree above absolute zero, Chu enabled a quantum leap in the study of the relationship between matter and energy. His work won him the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics.
33. Michelle Kwan
Gold eluded her at two Olympics, but five national championships and four world titles are enough to make Kwan the figure-skating world's youthful but undisputed grand dame. A longstanding habit of sitting with her dad at major events gives a rare boost to the image of Asian fatherhood
Chao became the first Asian American immigrant to be appointed to a cabinet post when her steady rise up Republican circles culminated in Bush's 2001 appointment as Secretary of Labor.
China Boy, Lee's first novel, introduced American readers to the perspective of an Asian male growing up in contemporary America. His later novels broke new literary ground by depicting Asian Amerian men as well-adjusted and even distinguished members of the American military.
As the NHL's quickest skater and a perennial scoring leader, Japanese Canadian Paul Kariya shows that Asian men can shine in the rough and tumble of the world's most brutal sport. His dazzling speed and convincing stats are even more impressive when paired with his unequaled modesty.
The only man ever to hold all four major PGA titles in the same year (2001), Woods is the symbol of steadiness and grace under intense pressure. By publicly embracing his mother's Thai heritage, he has become an inspiration to Blasians as well as all Asian Americans.
In his early career as a mechanical engineering professor at UC Berkeley, Tien distinguished himself by his love for students as well as brilliance in his field. That love would serve him well when he was called back to become Chancellor of his beloved university at a time when it was facing a financial and admissions crisis. Tien's success in swelling private contributions not only preserved Cal's high standards, but helped secure its place as the world's leading research university.
Tu (right) and Sun got $1.5 billion for 80% of Kingston Technology in 1997 and spent $100 million of it to pay their 1,000 employees bonuses averaging $100,000 apiece. They showed that Asian Americans are not only among America's best entrepreneurs, but also the most loyal and generous.
Madam Wu is arguably the most admired female scientist in U.S. history and one of the most talented experimental physicists of all time. Her procedure for using gaseous diffusion to separate U235 from U238 was key to the Manhattan Project's success in building the world's first atomic bomb. Her most acclaimed work was devising an elegant experiment to prove out the Nobel-winning theory of CN Yang and TD Lee that parity is not conserved in weak nuclear reactions. For that and other pioneering work the Shanghai native became a celebrity of the scientific community.