Past Tien Award Recipients

Geeta Anand is Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. In her two years as dean, she has set the school on a path to changing who gets to be a journalist in this world. She launched a $100 million fundraising initiative to remove the economic obstacles to people from historically marginalized groups becoming journalists. She led the development of an anti-racism plan that helped diversify the school’s instructors, among other things, and the school has completed or made substantial progress on 80 percent of these initiatives.… Read More

Dr. Ka Yee C. Lee serves as the fourteenth Provost of the University of Chicago. As Provost, she is responsible for academic and research programs across the University and oversees the University’s budget.

She is the David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Chemistry, the James Franck Institute, the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, and the College, and a member of the Board of the University of Chicago Medical Center and the Board of Governors for Argonne National Laboratory.… Read More

Dr. Liu is Dean and Roy W. Carlson Professor of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. She is internationally recognized in academia and industry for her innovations in semiconductor technology, and is highly regarded for her achievements as a teacher, mentor and administrator.

Liu was born in Ithaca, New York while her parents, who immigrated to the United States from Taiwan, were graduate students at Cornell University.  “After graduating from Cornell, my father conducted research in earthquake prediction, so he moved the family to California where the action was — and still is,” said Liu.… Read More

Dr. Mun Y. Choi is currently the President of the University of Missouri System and Chancellor of University of Missouri-Columbia.

Dr.  Choi was named the 24th president of the University of Missouri System in November 2016, and began in March 2017. As president, Dr. Choi serves as the chief executive and academic officer of the UM System, a land-grant institution that provides centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, and extension program, and ten research and technology parks.… Read More

Jerry Kang is a Distinguished Professor of Law and Distinguished Professor of Asian American Studies at UCLA. He is also the inaugural Korea Times – Hankook Ilbo Endowed Chair in Korean American Studies and Law. At the time of the award, he served as Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at UCLA which he founded in 2015.

Professor Kang’s teaching and research interests include civil procedure, race, and communications. On race, he has focused on the nexus between implicit bias and the law, with the goal of advancing a “behavioral realism” in legal analysis.… Read More

Dr. Mia Tuan is the Dean of the University of Washington College of Education and has served in this role since 2015. Throughout her career, Dr. Tuan has worked to strengthen equity and inclusion for students of all backgrounds across educational settings. Her commitment to helping all students know that they matter and belong originated with her upbringing as a 1.5 generation American. Born in Taiwan, Dr. Tuan migrated to the U.S.… Read More

Dr. Ming-Tung “Mike” Lee was formerly the Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at California State University, Sacramento. In the 69-year history of the university, Dr. Lee was the first Asian to ever serve as the Provost and the Vice President/CFO positions.

Dr. Lee has dedicated his career to providing a life-changing higher education to students from all backgrounds and social economic statuses.  This strong belief in access to high quality education originated from his humble upbringing during the economically deprived era of Taiwan. … Read More

Dr. S. David Wu is President of Baruch College, a constituent college of The City University of New York (CUNY). At the time of his award, Dr. Wu was the Provost and Executive Vice President at George Mason University. In that role, he was responsible for coordinating and overseeing the full range of the university’s academic activities, including curricular, instructional, and research affairs.

Prior to joining Mason, Dr. Wu  served as Dean of the P.C.… Read More

Dr. Liza Cariaga-Lo was formerly the Associate Provost of Academic Development and Diversity at Brown University. She has dedicated her career to understanding inequality and she is an advocate for more diverse educational systems. She continues a tradition of Asian American activism on college campuses and she focuses her work on addressing inequality in academia. Dr. Cariaga-Lo is a leader in the fields of education program evaluation, minority student development, ethnic minority health care and public policy affecting children and families.… Read More

Dr. Ellen Junn is the President of California State University, Stanislaus. At the time of her award, she was the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at San Jose State University. During her time at SJSU, she worked to increase and coordinate multiple support programs to improve student learning, retention, and graduation rates, with special attention to closing the under-represented minority student graduation gap. Dr. Junn graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan with High Honors in Psychology in 1979, and earned a Ph.D.… Read More

Dr. Jacqueline L. Mok is the Vice President for Academic, Faculty and Student Affairs at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Prior to this position, she was Secretary of the Board of Trustees, Vice President and Chief of Staff at Johns Hopkins University. At the time of her award, Dr. Mok was at the University of Arizona, where she was appointed the first Vice President and Chief of Staff.… Read More

Dr. Suresh Subramani is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus and holds the Tata Chancellor’s Endowed Professorship in Molecular Biology at the University of California, San Diego. At the the time of his award, he held the positions of Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Chancellor Associates Chair.

A professor of Molecular Biology and a highly distinguished cell and molecular biologist, he has been a member of the UC San Diego faculty since 1982.… Read More

Dr. Phyllis M. Wise was formerly the Interim President of the University of Washington. At the University of Washington, she had responsibility for all programs and operations of the University, reporting directly to the Board of Regents. The University of Washington is an AAU research university with an annual operating budget of near $4 billion and nearly 35,000 full and part-time employees. The University educates 47,000 regular students and 31,000 extension students and is the national leader among all public universities (2nd among all universities, public and private) in research funding, attracting more than $1 billion in grants and contracts per year.… Read More

Dr. S. Shankar Sastry is a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Bioengineering, and Mechanical Engineering and he is the faculty director of the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley. At the time of the award, he was also serving as the Dean of Engineering. An internationally recognized expert on embedded and autonomous software, Sastry has an exceptional background in technology research, spearheading projects to improve the nation’s cyber security and network infrastructure as well as initiatives in robotics and hybrid and embedded systems.… Read More

Dr. Meredith Jung-En Woo is currently the president of Sweet Briar College. At the time of her award, she was serving as the dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia. She came to UVA from the University of Michigan, where she served most recently as professor of political science and associate dean for the social sciences in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts.… Read More