Chinese American Firsts

Steffi Lau, Section Editor

This page lists some of the first Chinese Americans to break into the top ranks of their chosen careers.

When	Who	What	More
1919- 1975	James Wong Howe b. 1899 d. 1976	Was the first Asian-American to win an Academy Award (in cinematography). He won two Oscars out of 16 nominations he received for some of his more than 130 films.	Short Bio
1920- 1960.	Anna May Wong b. 1905 d. 1961	Became the first Asian American movie star even though she was typically asked to play stereotypes --her characters seemed to always tempt white men and die in the end	Short Bio
1931	Katherine Sui Fun Cheung b. 1904 d. 2003	Became the first Asian-American woman pilot, amazing crowds with sensational loops and rolls of her plane in air shows and often flew in air races.	Short Bio
1939	Arthur Chin b. 1913 d. 1997	First American fighting Ace. Volunteered for the Cantonese Air Force to fight against the invading Japanese before the US joined the war effort.	Short Bio
1940s	Noel Toy Young b. 1920 d. 2004	Was the first Chinese American exotic dancer. She danced primarily in San Francisco but also appeared in New York and acted in several movies.
1942?	Wah Kau Kong	First Chinese American fighter pilot
1948	Richard Tom	Was the first Chinese American to win an Olympic medal. He won the bronze medal in weightlifting at the 1948 Olympics held in London.
1957	Tsung-Dao Lee b. 1926 Chen Ning Yang b. 1922	Became the first Chinese Americans to win a Nobel Prize (for Physics) when they disproved a quantum-physics law.	Short Lee Bio, Short Yang Bio
1959-1977	Hiram L. Fong b. 1906	Became the first Chinese-American senator when Hawaii became a state, serving three terms.	Short Bio
1964	China Lee b. 1942	First Chinese American Playboy playmate of the month. (That would be the August 1964 edition, for those looking to do further research. The next Chinese American playmate was Diana Lee, May 1988).
1969	Connie Chung b. 1946	Was the first Asian American to anchor a news program for a national TV network (CBS Evening News and others) and only the second woman to do so.	Short Bio
1974	March Fong Eu b. 1922	Became the first Asian American woman to hold a state elective office when she won the position of Secretary of State, a position she held five times.	Short Bio
1984	Lily Lee Chen	Became the first Chinese American council member and mayor in the US when she was elected in the city of Monterey Park, CA.
1985	Taylor Wang b. 1940	Was the first Chinese American in space as well as the first ethnic Chinese and only second Asian American to do
1988	Michael Chang b. 1972	He is the youngest male to win a Grand Slam and the first American man to win the French Open since 1955. He was also the first Asian seeded in the top 10 world rankings for tennis.	Short Bio
1990	Chang-Lin Tien b. 1936 d. 2002	Became the first Asian American chancellor of major research university when he was named chancellor of the University of California at Berkleley.	Short Bio
1991	Leroy Chiao b. 1960	Was the first Asian to ever perform a space walk.	Short Bio
1996	Gary Locke b. 1960	Became the first Chinese American state governor when he was elected in the State of Washington.	Short Bio
1999.	David Wu b. 1955	Was the first Chinese American member of the House of Representatives, representing the Oregon's First District..	Short Bio
2001	Elaine Chao b. 1953	Became the first Asian American woman to serve in the U.S. cabinet, when she was sworn in as President Bush's Secretary of Labor.	Short Bio