ASIAN HERITAGE MONTH - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- General Manager
- General Manger
Job Titles:
- Education, East Asian, Film, Literature
- Professor and Associate
An accomplished scholar, teacher, academic leader, filmmaker, journalist, and writer, Anthony B. Chan is Professor and Associate Dean of Communication in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario.
Born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Professor Chan returned to Canada after serving as the Chair of the bachelor of Arts and master of Arts degree programs in Canadian Studies and Director of the Canadian Studies Center in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and as an Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Before moving to the Pacific Northwest in 1990, Tony Chan was an Associate Professor of Mass Communication at California State University, Hayward. His family has been in Canada since 1887 when his paternal grandfather immigrated to Victoria.
Complementing his administrative duties at the University of Washington, Tony was the Head of Broadcast Journalism in the School of Communications at UW, and the Assistant Coordinator of the CIDA-funded China Project Office at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Dr. Chan's scholarly film work includes Perpetually Cool: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong, 1905-1961 (2003, 2007) (185 KB PDF file - Acrobat Reader required), which chronicled the amazing life and hard times of the legendary Chinese American actor, Anna May Wong. He has agreed to a film option with Silver Dream Production in Pasadena for a biopic of Anna May Wong, produced by Shanghai film producer, Luo Yan.
His first historical biography analyzed the magical life and relentless business pursuits of Li Ka-shing, the most famous Hong Kong deal maker who sold Star TV to Rupert Murdoch. Li is also well known for his purchase of Husky Energy and the Expo 㥞 lands as well as a stake in Facebook. Li Ka-shing: Hong Kong Elusive Billionaire was published by Oxford University (1996). In March 2007, Alpha Books, Hanoi, People's Republic of Vietnam translated this biography into Vietnamese.
Professor Chan's other scholarly works include Arming the Chinese: The Western Armaments Trade in Warlord China, 1920-1928 (1982) and Gold Mountain: The Chinese in the New World (1983). The latter examined Chinese immigration and settlement in Canada from 1850 to 1979. In 1997, he co-edited People to People: An Introduction to Communications. Tony is currently writing a book length manuscript on immigrant nationalism in Chinese Canada where he is especially examining the impact of such social network systems as Facebook on family bonds and the pervasiveness of cyber crime on this ethnic nation in Canada.
His articles can be found in Asian Affairs, Cinemaya, Gazette, Journal of European Economic History, Journal of Ethnic Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Canadian Ethnic Studies, Adult Education, Asian Profile, and Army Journal and Defence Quarterly. He has written for Snoecks (Ghent, Belgium) and the Globe and Mail. Tony Chan was the founding editor of New Scholars-New Visions in Canadian Studies, Seattle and co-founded The Asianadian: An Asian Canadian Magazine, Toronto.
In addition to his traditional undergraduate and graduate teaching in digital media and journalism, documentary filmmaking, cinema studies, Asian Canadian media, and intercultural, international, and mass communication, Professor Chan's teaching expertise includes mentoring many doctoral students online. Since 1992, he has been an adjunct supervisor of doctoral and EdD students in Education and doctoral students in Applied Management and Decision Sciences at Walden University. He has also mentored doctoral students in Business at Capella University.
As a filmmaker, Tony Chan's independent films include a four part series on Asian Americans and Vietnam: 'Lily Goes Home' (2007), 'The Insanity of it All' (2002), 'Sweet Heat' (1998), and 'American Nurse' (1992).
Betty Lee is an entrepreneur in food processing and catering and is a social activist for the advancement of Canadian women, women who have immigrated to Canada in particular. She was born and raised in Singapore and arrived in Canada in 1963 when she was quite young. Upon arrival in Canada, she had many hopes and dreams relating to being successful in her new home. She attributes her success to hard work and determination; this hard work was recognized when in 1992 she was honoured with a New Brunswick Spirit Award and in 1993 she received an Atlantic Women Entrepreneur Award. She received the Citation for Citizenship in 1993.
Lee has worked tirelessly for social changes and has constantly contributed to the advancement of Canadian women. She was a cofounder of the New Brunswick Chinese Cultural Association and the Women Working with Immigrant Women group in the 1980s. Later on, she was appointed by New Brunswick Premiers Richard Hatfield and Frank McKenna to the New Brunswick Advisory Committee on the Status of Women. She was also appointed by the President of the Treasury Board of Canada to the Women Advisory Committee on Employment Equity and to the Solicitor General's Task Force on Federally Sentanced Women.
In 1985, Lee was elected as the founding President of the National Congregation of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada (NCIVMWC). She was elected as the Vice Chair of the Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) in 1992. She is also a member of the Fredericton Botanical Garden Association, is a registered music teacher in New Brunswick and is a member of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW).
Profile: Arlene Chan, a retired librarian, has authored three children's books. "Awakening the Dragon: the Dragon Boat Festival", published by Tundra Books in 2002, launched her passion for dragon boating. Her two earlier books are "The Spirit of the Dragon: The Story of Jean Lumb, a Proud Chinese Canadian", selected as a Choice Book by the Canadian Children's Book Centre, and "The Moon Festival: A Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival", shortlisted for the Silver Birch Award. Her next book on dragon boat racing in Canada, co-edited with Susan Humphries, will be published in 2009 by Dundurn Press.
Arlene is currently serving as the President of the Jean Lumb Foundation and is an Appointee to the Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers Advisory Council, Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.
In regular concerto engagements and recitals in major halls around the world, Canadian pianist Christine Mari Yoshikawa has quickly established herself as one of Canada's most sought-after young pianists. Critics have described her as a pianist of "pure power" (South Bend Tribune), "radiant lyricism, elegance and warmth" (The Observer) and her performances as "a fine balance of sensitivity and virtuosity" (Minami Shinbun, Japan) in her wide-ranging concerti and recital repertoire from Bach to Xenakis.
After making her concerto debut with Beethoven's First Piano Concerto at the age of nine, she has appeared as a recitalist and soloist with orchestras in cities such as Paris, London, Munich, Sofia, Prague, Tokyo, New York, Boston, and Chicago. Equally comfortable in both traditional and contemporary genres, she frequently performs chamber music with some of the world's finest musicians.
Winner of many national and international competitions including the Grand Prize winner and Laureate of the 1998 Kromeriz International Piano Festival Competition, Canadian Music Competitions, Young Concert Artist Guild, 7th Ehrhart International Competition, the Young Concert Artist Guild, and second-prize winner of the 2002 Yakov Flier International Piano Competition, she was awarded the 2002-03 Mary Louise Remy Endowed PEO Scholar for her doctoral research on the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff - a recognition reserved for the top two of just 85 Research Scholars selected from over 600 North American nominations. Additional awards include the prestigious Kieckhefer Doctoral Dissertation Award, the Aiken-Rockefeller Concert Artist Career Grant and Medallion, British Columbia Arts Council Grant, and the President's Scholar Award amongst others.
A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, Dr. Yoshikawa began her piano studies at age two with her mother. She holds top medals from the Western Board and Royal School of Music in London, and degrees with distinction honors from the University of Victoria (BMus), University of British Columbia (MMus), and Arizona State University (DMA) where her principal teachers were Arthur Rowe, Jane Coop and Robert Hamilton.
Additionally, she has studied with Gyorgy Sebok of Indiana University Bloomington at the Banff Center for the Arts and with Alexander Toradze as a charter fellow of the Toradze Institute at Indiana University South Bend. A committed educator, she conducts clinics and masterclasses internationally and has held teaching positions at the University of British Columbia, Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University, Gulf Coast Community College, and Chipola College.
Her live performances are archived at the Canadian Music Centres across Canada and at Amsterdam's Muziekgebouw, and her concerts are broadcast on national radio across North America and abroad. She is currently on the roster of Recording Artists for Eroica Classical Recordings, and was added to the International Who's Who of Professional Artists.
Job Titles:
- President
- Project Director
Profile: Jaya Kitchlu is a renowned signer and radio/television broadcaster who has been in the Indo-Canadian entertainment industry for over 30 years. Jaya has performed in India, Canada, the United States and beyond.
Job Titles:
- Honourary Chair
- Patron, Asian Heritage Month - Canadian Foundation
Profile: Tetsuro Shigematsu is a writer, director, filmmaker, radio and television broadcaster, actor and comedian who has worked extensively in film, radio, theatre and television.