CHINESE HERITAGE FOUNDATION - Key Persons
David Fong is descended from a long line of hardworking Chinese men who were U.S. citizens. These men, originally from Taishan, China, had spent their entire lives working in the U.S. But, because of the Chinese Exclusion Act...
Fred Hsiao was born in a small village in Shaanxi Province in China. He graduated from the National Wuhan University in 1944 and came to the United States for graduate training in civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Minnesota. Shortly after his arrival in the Twin Cities he became immersed in the life of the local Chinese community, emerging as a quiet leading force. In both his professional and private lives he has followed the same dictum: work hard, be a good listener, remain fair and kind, treat everyone with respect and courtesy, be frugal but at the same time generous, cultivate personal relationships and honor agreements, maintain optimism, be persistent and in good humor because hard work will pay off. These are qualities that he absorbed from lessons he learned from his home village in China and by which he has abided in the last six decades in this country.
It is therefore no wonder that Shaw-Lundquist Associates, which Hsiao founded in 1974 to provide general contracting, construction management, design-build, concrete, masonry, carpentry, and demolition services to the Upper Midwest, has grown into the largest Minority-owned Contractor in the Midwest and the largest Asian-owned Contractor in the U.S. Hsiao is the recipient of numerous professional achievement awards, including the International Immigrant Achievement Award from The Twin Cities International Citizen Awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Associated General Contractors of Minnesota.
Hsiao, in deep appreciation of the opportunities he has found in this country, began giving back to the community very early in his career. He and his wife, Jennie, are generous and longtime supporters of many causes and organizations, and have been described as an extraordinary power family who has reinvested much of their worth back into the community through charitable donations. Over the years, hardly a celebrated Chinese cultural event would go by without receiving their enthusiastic and generous support. Recently they established the Hsiao Scholarship at the China Center at the University of Minnesota to provide opportunities for University students to study in China. Hsiao was a founding member of the Chinese American Business Association of Minnesota and currently serves as its honorary president. He also serves on the board of many organizations, including the Chinese Senior Citizens Society and the U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association. He was particularly instrumental in introducing the peasant painters of Huxian County (Shaanxi Province) to Minnesotans. Well known for his cheerfulness, he is always ready to lend a sympathetic ear to friends and strangers alike.
Now in his eighties, Hsiao continues to go to work everyday and enjoys attending activities of the many charitable causes that he champions. The Chinese Heritage Foundation honors him for his unassuming leadership in our community, and for being a role model of lifelong dedication to and achievement in cross cultural understanding and cooperation.
Ida Lano has been a member and volunteer of the Chinese Heritage Foundation for many years. Her parents, Robert Wen-Hua (deceased), and Jean (deceased) Chang were dear friends of CHF founder, Ming Tchou and her husband Dr. M. F. Tchou. Growing up in Minnesota, Ida had felt that there was a lack of information on Chinese culture. She joined CHF because she subscribed to its mission of bringing meaningful cultural interactions and activities to all Minnesotans A Passage to China, a signature outreach event of CHF for many years, was a clear example of bringing Chinese culture to a mainstream audience.
Ida recently retired from Microsoft in Data & AI solutions. Prior to that, she spent 30 years with IBM, primarily in sales and technical roles.
Ida has a sister, Ivy Chang, and 2 sons, Alexander and Theodore Lano.
For many years following World War II, Jane Wilson was the superintendent of the Chinese Sunday School at Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis. Westminster had a long history of involvement with Chinese immigrants in the Twin Cities... Read more...
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Committee
- Emeritus, 2004 - 2020 )
Margaret Wong was born in China and, while still a child, fled China with her family in 1949, eventually settling in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Subsequently she came to the United States for college and majored in foreign languages. She taught French and Spanish for several years before embarking on her career of teaching Chinese language and culture, first in the Minneapolis Public Schools and later at Breck School.
Over the years she has created Chinese language programs for both the Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools, and later the Concordia Language Chinese Village. Every summer she has led her students and their parents on study tours to China.
Her contribution to the understanding of Chinese culture in Minnesota has been recognized by numerous awards. They include the Minnesota Chamber Excellence in Teaching Award, Dodge Foundation Award for Teaching of Chinese, U.S. Defense Education Award, Asian Pacific Education Award, and the Twin Cities International Citizen Award. She was a founding member of the National Association of Chinese High School Language Teachers, and has served on the boards of many organizations, including the U.S. China People's Friendship Association-MN, Organization of Chinese Americans-MN, and the China Center of the University of Minnesota.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Member of the Advisory Committee
- Members of the Advisory Committee
Ming Tchou is the founder of the Chinese Heritage Foundation. She has been an active volunteer in the Chinese community in Minnesota for more than 40 years and has won numerous awards, including the leadership award from the Council of Asian Pacific Minnesotans. She was a founding member of the U. S. China Peoples Friendship Association and the Chinese Senior Citizens Society, serving as the president of the latter for more than a decade. In 2004 she created the Chinese Heritage Foundation with the goal of preserving and promoting the understanding of Chinese culture, history, and heritage in Minnesota. Complete biography
Ming Li Tchou comes from a highly literary and intellectual family in Guangzhou, China. Her grandfather was a judge and Dean of the Law School at Zhongshan Daxue. Both her parents were accomplished scholars in Chinese arts and letters...
In the summer of 2005, I took three suitcases and flew from Beijing to Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. In the summer of 2011, I took the same three suitcases and flew back from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport to Beijing. Six years has passed swiftly, as if nothing had changed. But only I know that along with the suitcases, I also carry back so many wonderful memories and best wishes from my professors, colleagues, friends, and students from Minnesota in the past six years.
I remember that in my first winter at Minnesota, I was shocked by the amount of snow that a single winter could produce. Winter seemed to be endless, but the snow was so pure and quiet to a woman like me, who came from a small town in middle China. When I come back to China, the snow is indeed one of the many things that I miss most.
I still remember that in my first class at the University of Minnesota, I did not know what the syllabus was and how to use the on-line posting. My professors and colleagues not only helped me master all these technologies, they also pushed me to think about China in a broader context of the whole world. China was not only the country in which I grew up, it also became the body of knowledge I strove to learn, to discuss, and to debate about. After six years, I was able to write my own syllabus and taught my own course in Ming-Qing China to a class of American students. China as a nationality and China as a study subject converged.
I could not forget the joyful heart beat when I was informed that the Chinese Heritage Foundation kindly funded my trip back to China for my dissertation research in 2008. With the fellowship, I was able to dig in the dusty archival documents in the Tianjin Archive and discover some rarely read texts from the National Library of China, Tianjin Library, and Nankai University Library. There were numerous moments that I touched the liveliness of history and that I was touched by the words and choices of the historical figures. As the recipient of this prestigious fellowship, not only did I fully prepare myself for my dissertation, I also use many of the documents in my current teaching and research at the Capital Normal University.
Shen Pei, a native of Nanjing, China, immigrated to Minnesota in 1993, at the invitation of the Chinese American Association of Minnesota Chinese Dance Theater (CAAM CDT) to assume the role of its artistic director. She brought with her decades of experience and an international reputation as a dancer, choreographer, theater artist, theorist and educator. Many of her award-winning choreographed works, such as Plum Blossom Triolet, have been performed throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia...
Stanley Chong was born on February 14, 1912, in Yakima, Washington. He grew up on his father's hops farm, working every spring to build trellises for the hops vines, and later on in the season harvesting the flowers to be shipped to breweries in Chicago. The strong work ethic that he developed in those early years remained with Chong throughout his life...
Memoir by Walter Hong, written in 2004 and provided by his family
I was born in Minneapolis in 1927 and when I was five years old, my father decided to take my sisters, brother and me back to Hong Kong so that we could attend a Chinese school and acquire a Chinese educational foundation before we joined the American school system. So in 1932 our family went back to Hong
Kong, but when the Japanese Imperial Army invaded Mainland China in 1937 my father changed his mind. So our family returned to Minneapolis.
(Ed.'s note: Walter was the older boy in the above family photograph. The younger boy was Jimmy, who went on to become a legendary Hollywood actor and star.)
Since I couldn't speak any English, school administrators in Minneapolis put me into first grade, with 6-year olds even though I was 11. I felt so humiliated, but it motivated me to study hard in English. I caught up rapidly and succeeded in finishing Eighth Grade at the end of five years.
By this time, 1942, the Japanese invasion of China had intensified and Pearl Harbor had been bombed. Having spent 5 years in Hong Kong and hearing about Japanese actions in China first hand had impressed upon me the desire to join the U.S. Army to fight Japanese aggression. But I still had four years of high school to finish, before my parents would allow me to go.
Mr. Herbert Park, a close friend of my father's and a Board Member at Pillsbury Military Academy in Owatonna, heard of my dilemma
and decided to help. He recommended that I be admitted to Pillsbury.
I began as a freshman there and took regular classes during the day; but in my off hours I received special tutoring, by many sympathetic teachers, in Science and Math, English and Literature and other subjects at the junior and senior levels. Thus I was able to finish four years of high school in two years and graduated from Pillsbury in the spring of 1944. Thus I had attained my goal of graduating at the age of 18, so that I may join the military service.
Walter James was born in 1892 in Olympia, Washington into a family of modest means. His father was an oyster worker and the family lived in a houseboat to be near him. James' adventurous spirit showed itself very early...
Yin Simpson began her fashion design career at the former Dayton's Department Store and went on to establish her own couture design shop that has served many prominent women in Minnesota. In addition to designing ball gowns and wedding gowns, Yin often serves as a wardrobe consultant and a special events producer. Many of her designs, some on Chinese painted silks, have been shown at fashion shows and art exhibits throughout the Twin Cities.
Yin's passion for beauty extends beyond fashion to include food, flowers, and friendships; and it has led to her dedication in volunteerism. She has devoted much time and effort to women's organizations, children's issues, mental health awareness, and Chinese cultural affairs. Often assuming the role of a development officer or event organizer, she has been involved with the Minnesota Mental Health Society, the American Lung Association, the Chinese Senior Citizens Society and many other Chinese organizations. She also has continued at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts as a collection and focus guide.