Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education

APAHE 2008 Honorees

Mike Honda, Member, U.S. House of Representatives

Mike Honda has represented the 15th Congressional District of California in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2001. His diverse district includes Silicon Valley, the birthplace of technology innovation and the leading region for the development of the technologies of tomorrow.

Mike was born in California, but spent his early childhood with his family in an internment camp in Colorado during World War II. His family returned to California in 1953, becoming strawberry sharecroppers in San Jose.

In 1965, Mike interrupted his college studies to answer President John F. Kennedy’s call for volunteer service. He served in the Peace Corps for two years in El Salvador, returning with a passion for teaching and fluent in Spanish.

Mike earned Bachelor’s degrees in Biological Sciences and Spanish, and a Master’s degree in Education from San José State University. In his decades-long career as an educator, Mike was a science teacher, served as a principal at two public schools, and conducted educational research at Stanford University.
In 1971, Mike was appointed by then-Mayor Norm Mineta to San Jose’s Planning Commission. In 1981, he won his first election, gaining a seat on the San José Unified School Board. In 1990, Mike was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, where he led efforts to acquire and preserve open space in the county. He served in the California State Assembly from 1996 to 2000.

In 2000, Mike was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and serves on the Appropriations Committee, with postings on that body’s Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, Commerce, Justice, and Science, and Legislative Branch Subcommittees. As an appropriator, Mike will focus on directing funding to address such fundamental needs as: Access to affordable healthcare; worker training; port and border security; adequate law enforcement to keep our streets and neighborhoods safe; health care for our veterans; recovery from natural disasters, particularly Hurricane Katrina, and education, particularly fully funding No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Mike is serving his second term as Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, coordinating with his colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucuses to champion the causes of under-represented communities by promoting social justice, racial tolerance, and civil rights.

In February 2005, Mike was elected as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee. In his role as DNC Vice-Chair, Mike works closely with DNC Chair Howard Dean to rejuvenate the Party’s grassroots efforts and to incorporate new and emerging constituencies into the Party’s agenda.

In January, 2007, he was named House Democratic Senior Whip by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC). Senior Whips are a select group of Members and Democratic Caucus opinion leaders tasked with strategic planning about how issues impact targeted Members or groups, and will help develop strategies to ensure legislative success.

Mike is widowed and has two grown children. His wife, Jeanne, was a teacher at Baldwin Elementary School in San Jose before her passing in 2004. His son, Mark, is an aerospace engineer and Michelle, his daughter, is a public health educator with two young boys, Trey and Brody.

Warren Furutani, Member, California Assembly

Assemblymember Warren Furutani was elected in a special election to the 55th Assembly District in February 2008 and represents the communities of Wilmington, Harbor City and the Harbor Gateway, Carson, and parts of Long Beach and Lakewood.

Warren has 35 years of experience and involvement in education and public service, both as an elected official and a community leader.  As a three-term member of the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees, Warren was elected President of the Board in July 2002 and served as First Vice President in 2001.  He is also the only person to have been elected and reelected to this board and to the Los Angeles Unified School District Board (LAUSD).

The first Asian Pacific American ever elected to the LAUSD in 1987, Warren is noted for building bridges between parents, community members, teachers and staff in increasing involvement in the education system.  He served as the Board’s President in 1991.

As an activist beginning in the 1960’s and continuing to the present, Warren has worked hard to ensure that all people living in the Golden State have equal opportunities, especially as they relate to education.  These opportunities include the establishment of both admissions programs for minority students at colleges and universities, and ethnic studies programs and departments at these same campuses.

Along with his extensive record, Warren brings his reputation as a problem solver and consensus builder to the Assembly, where he plans to continue his passion for fighting on behalf of California students in both K-12 and higher education, and promoting workforce development for all Californians.     

A native Californian and fourth generation Japanese American, Warren is a product of the Los Angeles public education system, graduating from Gardena High School in 1965. He then attended several community colleges in both Southern and Northern California, later earning a B.A. degree from Antioch University.

Warren has been published and interviewed in education journals, university academic journals, newspapers and books. He is featured in a permanent exhibit, “Common Ground” in the Japanese American National Museum. Warren has also served as the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Community Fund, a philanthropic organization, and as the President and CEO of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, an umbrella organization comprised of over 50 human service organizations serving the greater Los Angeles area. http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a55/Biography/default.aspx

Maeley Tom, Member, California State Personnel Board

Maeley L. Tom is the founder and CEO of the public affairs firm Tom & Associates. She formerly served as a Senior Vice President of a Washington D.C. based public affairs firm Cassidy & Associates for five years and still serves as a senior consultant to the firm. Prior to joining Cassidy & Associates, Maeley spent 20 years in the California Legislature holding the unique distinction of serving in chief of staff positions in both houses.

In the State Assembly she served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Assembly under former Rules Committee Chairman Louis J. Papan and Speaker Willie L. Brown, Jr. In the State Senate she served as Chief of Staff to the former Senate Pres. Pro Tem David Roberti. Prior to her government relations career and legislative career, Maeley served in personnel management positions with the California State University of Sacramento, the Liberty House retail chain in Honolulu, Hawaii and the Host International Corporation at the Honolulu International Airport.

In the California Legislature, she helped establish the first state Office of Asian Pacific Affairs which served as a liaison between the Asian Pacific American (APA) communities and the State Legislature. As the state director, she played a major role in influencing the diversified Asian Pacific American ethnic groups to strengthen their political clout by uniting as one voice to address issues that impact the entire community. In 1999, she was appointed by Governor Davis to serve on his Diversity Task Force. Maeley earned a bachelor of arts degree from California State University, San Francisco.

Henry Der, Senior Program Officer, Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
 
Prior to the Haas Fund assignment, Henry was Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, California Department of Education.  His overall responsibilities include administrative oversight of and policy development for special education, adult education, regional occupational programs, education options for at-risk student population groups, and safe schools.

Henry has served on the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC), which provides independent policy review, analysis and planning of programs at the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges, since 1988.  He has promoted educational equity and access for poor and racial minority students through the advocacy of adequate financial aid. A member of the Asian American Task Force on University Admissions since 1984, Henry has lobbied against freshman admission quotas imposed on highly qualified Asian American applicants by some of the nation’s selective universities and colleges.

He served as the executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, a voluntary membership-supported civil rights organization based in San Francisco, California, for more than 22 years. Henry led coalition efforts to promote equal opportunities in employment, education, and voting rights for Asian Americans and other racial minorities. A founding member of the Greenlining Coalition, Henry has negotiated with major banks and regulated utilities to implement effective affirmative action employment and lending programs to benefit poor inner city residents and minority-owned businesses.  He has participated in federal and state administrative hearings to move the telecommunications industry to provide universal service and access to the information highway for poor, racial and linguistic minority customers.

As an advocate for the rights of limited English proficient citizens and immigrants, Henry has worked with and advised election officials to comply with the bilingual election provisions of the Voting Rights Act and health officials, with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and worked closely with key federal legislators to preserve and expand the Voting Rights Act to protect the rights of linguistic minority citizens.

A 1968 graduate of Stanford University and 1984 Executive MBA graduate of Golden Gate University, Mr. Der was the 1984 recipient of the San Francisco Foundation Robert C. Kirkwood Award for exemplary community service, the 1988 Edison Uno JACL Civil Rights Leadership Award, and the 1991 recipient of the National Education Association’s Ellison Onizuka Memorial Award for human and civil rights leadership.

Robert A. Corrigan, President, San Francisco State University

Robert A. Corrigan has served as the 12th president of San Francisco State University since September 1988. He previously served nine years as chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Boston. At both universities, he has made civic engagement and the application of university expertise to community issues a campus hallmark.

Among his current national activities, Dr. Corrigan is a member of the MAFSA Task Force on Institutional Management of Study Abroad, the National Cancer Institute’s Comprehensive Minority Biomedical Branch Task Force and the National Advisory Council for Campus Compact. He is immediate past chair of the Board of Directors of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and past chair of the American Council on Education (ACE) Commission for Lifelong Learning.

In San Francisco, Dr. Corrigan recently completed two terms as chair of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Mayor’s Biotechnology Advisory Council and the Mayor’s Children, Youth, and Families Policy Council.

His awards include the Distinguished Community Service Award from the Anti-Defamation League, “in recognition of outstanding commitment to diversity, fairness, and social justice, selection by the John Templeton Foundation as one of 50 Outstanding Leaders of American Colleges and selection as a Distinguished Urban Fellow by the Association of Urban Universities

Dr. Corrigan has been a provost at the University of Maryland and Dean at the University of Missouri, in addition to holding faculty positions at the University of Iowa, Bryn Mawr, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. He He received his A.B. from Brown University and both his master’s and doctoral degrees in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania.

Angelo N. Ancheta, Assistant Professor of Law, Santa Clara University and Executive Director, Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center

Angelo Ancheta has been the Director of the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center since May 2005. He is also an Assistant Professor of Law and teaches classes in constitutional law and in law and the political process. His research and scholarship focus on the law of equal protection, voting rights, and immigrants’ rights.  Before joining the KGACLC, he was the Legal Director for The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University and on the faculty of the Harvard Law School . He has also taught at the NYU School of Law and the UCLA School of Law.