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OCA - GREATER SEATTLE CHAPTER

2006 - Chow, Ping and Ruby

2006 - Gee How Oak Tin Association & Foundation

2006 - Locke, Francis

Recipients of OCA-GS' Golden Circle Award

Notable Asian Americans from www.answers.com 

Politics
· 1956 - Dalip Singh Saund became the first Asian immigrant elected to the U.S. Congress upon his election to the House of Representatives .
· 1959 - Hiram Fong became the first Asian American elected to the U.S. Senate .
· 1959 - Daniel Inouye became the first Japanese American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives . In 1962, he became the first Japanese American elected to the U.S. Senate . As of 2006, he is the Senate's third-most senior member.
· 1964 - Patsy Takemoto Mink became the first Asian American women to serve in Congress, as a representative of Hawaii; she ended up serving 12 terms
· 1974 - George Ariyoshi became the first Asian American governor in the United States when he was elected Governor of Hawaii .
· 1984 - Shien Biau Woo became the first Asian American statewide officer in the Northeast, when he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Delaware .
· 1990 - Daniel Akaka was elected to the U.S. Senate from Hawaii.
· 1992 - Tony Lam became the first Vietnamese American elected to office when he was elected to the Westminster, California city council.
· 1993 - Martha Wong was the first Asian American elected to the Houston City Council (1993 - representing District C). In 2003, she became the first Asian American woman elected to the Texas State Legislature . Wong was unseated in November 2006 from her Texas Legislature seat where her opponent, Ellen Cohen (the president of the Houston Area Women's Center) ran a campaign stating that Wong is representing the Republican Party to her legislative district instead of focusing on the welfare of its constituents.
· 1994 - Ben Cayetano was elected Governor of Hawaii .
· 1996 - Gary Locke was elected the first Asian American governor in the mainland United States in November 1996 and became Governor of Washington in January 1997.
· 1999 - Gordon Quan became the first Asian American male elected to the Houston City Council (1999) in a citywide (at-large) council seat. He was also Houston's first Asian American Mayor Pro Tem, 2002-2004, during Mayor Lee P. Brown 's final term in office.
· 2000 - Norman Mineta became the first Asian American in the U.S. Cabinet when Bill Clinton appointed him Secretary of Commerce , serving in that post until 2001, when George W. Bush appointed him to another Cabinet post ( Secretary of Transportation ), serving until 2006.
· 2001 - Elaine Chao became the first Asian American woman and the first Chinese American in the U.S. Cabinet when George W. Bush appointed her Secretary of Labor .
· 2001 - John Liu became the first Asian American elected to the New York City Council (representing Flushing, Queens ).
· 2002 - Upendra J. Chivukula became the first Asian American elected to the New Jersey General Assembly .
· 2002 - Mee Moua became the first Hmong American elected to any state legislature. A Democrat representing St. Paul's East Side, she is the highest ranking Hmong American elected official in the United States.
· 2004 - Bobby Jindal was elected the first Indian American congressman from Louisiana .
· 2004 - Masur Javed "M.J." Khan became a Houston City Councilmember.
· 2004 - Jimmy Meng became the first Asian American elected to the New York State Legislature .
· 2004 - Van Tran was elected a Republican member of the California State Assembly and is the first Vietnamese American to serve in any state legislature.
· 2004 - Hubert Vo , a Vietnamese immigrant, became the first Vietnamese American elected to the Texas Legislature .
· 2005 - Mike Honda , U.S. Congressman from California's 15th congressional district , became the highest-ranking Asian American member of the Democratic National Committee , as the party's Vice Chair.
Law
For a list of Asian Americans who are or have served as judges, see List of Asian American jurists .
· Viet D. Dinh was a United States Assistant Attorney General and a key drafter of what became the USA PATRIOT Act .
· Heather Fong is the first Asian American woman to head a major metropolitan police department ( San Francisco, California ).
· Harold Hongju Koh is dean of Yale Law School .
· Fred Korematsu was a prominent resister of Japanese American internment .
· Dale Minami is an attorney who helped reverse Fred Korematsu's criminal conviction.
· Frank H. Wu is dean of Wayne State University Law School.
· Bruce Yamashita is an attorney and U.S. Marine Corps officer who worked to expose racial discrimination within the Corps.
· John Yoo served in the U.S. Department of Justice 's Office of Legal Counsel and was a drafter of what later became known as the "torture memo."
Business and industry
· Alfred Chuang , founder and CEO of BEA Systems
· An Wang founded Wang Laboratories in June 1951.
· Jen-Hsun Huang co-founded the NVIDIA corporation in 1993.
· Jeff Yang co-founded A Magazine in 1989 and is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle .
· Jerry Yang co-founded Yahoo ! Inc. in 1994.
· Andrea Jung serves as Chairman and CEO of Avon Products .
· Vinod Khosla was a founding CEO of Sun Microsystems and is a successful general partner of the venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers.
· Sabeer Bhatia co-founded Hotmail
· Min Zhu , co-founder and former president and chief technical officer of WebEx .
Sports
· Michael Chang won tennis' French Open in 1987.
· Tiffany Chin won the US Figure Skating Championship in 1985.
· Amy Chow won gold and silver medals in gymnastics during the 1996 Olympics.
· Norm Chow is the currently offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans after helping lead USC to several NCAA championships as the offensive coordinator there.
· Bryan Clay won the silver medal in the 2004 decathlon and was the sport's 2005 world champion.
· Natalie Coughlin Olympic gold medalist in swimming
· Toby Dawson won a 2006 Olympic bronze medal in Men's Freestyle Skiing.
· Victoria Draves won gold medals in the 1948 platform and springboard events.
· Evelyn Kawamoto Olympic bronze medalist in swimming.
· Ford Konno Olympic gold medalist in 1500-meter freestyle
· Tommy Kono Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting
· Michelle Kwan has won nine national championships and five world titles, as well as two Olympic medals (silver in 1998, bronze in 2002).
· Jeanette Lee pool player
· Sammy Lee became the first Asian American to earn an Olympic Gold Medal, when he won in platform diving in both 1948 and 1952.
· Wataru Misaka broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947-48 season, when he played for the New York Knicks .
· Hikaru Nakamura became the youngest American ever to earn the titles of National Master (age 10) and International Grandmaster (age 15) in chess.
· Dat Nguyen was an All-American linebacker at Texas A&M University and later became the first Vietnamese American in the National Football League .
· Apolo Anton Ohno won five Olympic medals in short-track speed skating (two gold) in 2002 and 2006, as well as a world cup championship.
· Yoshinobu Oyakawa Olympic gold medalist in 100-meter backstroke
· Harold Sakata won a weightlifting silver medal in the 1948 Olympics
· Eric Sato won Olympic gold medalist in volleyball
· Liane Sato won Olympic bronze medalist in volleyball
· Sonya Thomas is one of the world's top competitive eaters.
· Hines Ward was the MVP of Super Bowl XL while playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers .
· Michelle Wie golfer
· Tiger Woods , golfer
· Kristi Yamaguchi won three national figureskating championships, two world titles, and the 1992 Olympic Gold medal.
Arts and architecture
· IM Pei , renowned architect
· Minoru Yamasaki designed the World Trade Center
· Maya Lin designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial .
Music
· Jeff Chang is a music critic and historian of hip-hop culture.
· Jocelyn Enriquez
· Yo-Yo Ma renowned cellist
· Seiji Ozawa Boston Symphony Conductor
· Charles Mingus Jazz bassist, pianist, and composer.
· Amerie R&B singers of today.
· James Iha , formerly the guitarist of The Smashing Pumpkins
· Mike Shinoda and Joseph Hahn are successful Asian Americans in the popular rap rock band Linkin Park .
· Lea Salonga , singing voice of many Disney leads and Broadway musicals, originally from Philippines
· Jin Au-Yeung is credited as being a pioneer in the Asian American hip hop scene.
· Cassie is an R&B singer.
· Mike Relm is a scratch video DJ who has toured with the Blue Man Group
· William Hung is a contestant from American Idol
· Magdalen Hsu-Li out bisexual Chinese American singer-songwriter recording artist, poet and artist.
· Sanjaya Malakar , finalist from American Idol
· Vienna Teng , folk and pop singer-songwriter
Entertainment
· Keiko Agena , actress
· Nadia Ali of the music group iiO
· Tsuru Aoki (1892 - 1961), actress
· Chang and Eng Bunker (the source for the term "Siamese Twins")
· Eric Byler , filmmaker
· Tia Carrere , actress
· Cassie
· Wah Chang (prop designer - famous for designing the original Star Trek communicator and phasers
· Joan Chen , actress, director
· John Cho , actor
· Margaret Cho won the American Comedy Award for Best Female Comedian in 1994.
· Michael Copon
· Mark Dacascos , actor, of the Crying Freeman and the "Chairman" from Iron Chef America
· Kayo Hatta (1958 - 2005), filmmaker
· Sessue Hayakawa (1889 - 1973), Academy Award nominated actor
· James Hong , actor
· James Wong Howe (1899 - 1976), 2-time Academy Award winning cinematographer
· Kelly Hu , actress
· Vanessa Anne Hudgens , actor
· Chad Hugo
· David Henry Hwang , Tony winning playwright
· Michael Kang , filmmaker
· Sung Kang , actor
· Daniel Dae Kim , actor
· Randall Duk Kim, actor
· Nancy Kwan , actress
· Bruce Lee (1940 - 1973), martial arts superstar
· Chris Chan Lee , filmmaker
· Jason Scott Lee , actor
· Moon Lee graphic artist, credited with creating the Geisha Look, and popular actor from the eighties into the nineties
· Justin Lin , filmmaker
· Apl.de.ap (Lindo) of Black Eyed Peas
· Bai Ling , actress
· Lucy Liu Chinese American actress [1]
· Mako (1933 - 2006) Academy Award and Tony Award nominated actor, founder of East West Players
· Sanjaya Malakar
· Aasif Mandvi
· Nobu McCarthy (1934 - 2002), actress
· Ming-Na , actress
· Vanessa Minnillo
· Pat Morita (1932 - 2005) comedian and Academy Award nominated actor best known for work on Happy Days and Karate Kid
· Dr. Haing S. Ngor (1940 - 1996) won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985.
· Dustin Nguyen , actor
· Julia Nickson , actress
· Lisa Onodera , film producer
· Kal Penn , actor
· Dat Phan comedian, winner of the first season of Last Comic Standing
· Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls
· James Shigeta , actor
· Brenda Song , actress
· George Takei actor of Star Trek fame
· Chris Tashima , actor, Academy Award winning filmmaker
· Tamlyn Tomita , actress
· Jasmine Trias American Idol contestant
· Camile Velasco of American Idol
· B.D. Wong , Tony Award winning actor
· Anna May Wong (1905 - 1961), actress
Reality TV Stars
· Raj Bhakta - The Apprentice 2 contestant
· Cao Boi Bui - Survivor: Cook Islands contestant
· Yau-Man Chan - Survivor: Fiji contestant
· Erwin Cho - The Amazing Race 10 contestant
· Godwin Cho - The Amazing Race 10 contestant
· Jenny Guzon-Bae - Survivor: Cook Islands contestant
· Shii Ann Huang - Survivor: Thailand and Survivor: All-Stars contestant
· Charmaine Hunt - The Apprentice 5 contestant
· Bruce Kanegai - Survivor: Panama contestant
· Paul Kim - American Idol 6 semi-finalist
· Stacy Kimball - Survivor: Fiji contestant
· Sylvia Kwan - Survivor: Fiji contestant
· Yul Kwon - Survivor: Cook Islands winner
· Jennifer Le - The Apprentice: Martha Stewart contestant
· Becky Lee - Survivor: Cook Islands contestant
· Mookie Lee - Survivor: Fiji contestant
· Daniel Lue - Survivor: Amazon contestant
· Ivana Ma - The Apprentice 2 contestant
· Sanjaya Malakar - American Idol 6 finalist
· Toral Mehta - The Apprentice 4 contestant
· Arti Patel - The Amazing Race 10 contestant
· Vipul Patel - The Amazing Race 10 contestant
· Jose (Sway) Penala - American Idol 5 semi-finalist
· Jordan Segundo - American Idol 2 semi-finalist
· James Sun - The Apprentice 6 runner-up
· AJ Tabaldo - American Idol 6 semi-finalist
· Jasmine Trias - American Idol 3 finalist
· Camile Velasco - American Idol 3 finalist
· Brad Virata - Survivor: Cook Islands contestant
· Surya Yalamanchili - The Apprentice 6 contestant
· Michelle Yi - Survivor: Fiji contestant
Science
· Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang received the Nobel laureates in Physics for work in particle physics .
· Chien-Shiung Wu , known to many scientists as the "First Lady of Physics".
· Har Gobind Khorana shared the Nobel laureate in “Physiology or Medicine” in 1968 for work in genetics and protein synthesis.
· Samuel C.C. Ting Nobel laureate in physics for discovering the existence of a new particle called j/psi.
· Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Nobel laureate in Physics.
· David D. Ho , HIV/AIDS researcher
· Yuan T. Lee Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry
· Shiing-Shen Chern mathematician and winner of the prestigious Wolf Prize for his work in differential geometry.
· Stephen Chu Nobel laureate in Physics in 1997 for research on cooling and trapping atoms using laser light.
· Daniel Tsui Nobel laureate in Physics for contributions to the discovery of the fractional Quantum Hall effect .
· Min Chueh Chang , Co-inventor of the birth control pill .
· Shing-Tung Yau , mathematician, Fields Medal winner.
· Terence Tao , mathematician, Fields Medal winner.
· Ellison Onizuka , astronaut on STS-51-C and STS-51-L ; died in Space Shuttle Challenger disaster .
· Kalpana Chawla , astronaut on STS-87 and STS-107 ; died in Space Shuttle Columbia disaster .
· Sunita Williams , astronaut on STS-116 and Expedition 14 to the International Space Station .