From: http://gasiantimes.com/May09/25influential.htm
Profile listed by alphabetical order:
Shiv Aggarwal
Charlice Byrd
Voranath Chanthavong
Mei-Ann Chen
Assistant Conductor
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Born in Taiwan, Mei-Ann Chen has lived in the United States since 1989. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of Michigan, where she was a student of Kenneth Kiesler. Prior to that, she was the first recipient in New England Conservatory’s history to receive double master’s degrees simultaneously in violin and conducting. As a violinist, she has performed in Carnegie Hall and Tanglewood Music Festival numerous times.
The first woman to win the Malko International Conductors Competition in 2005, Chen has established herself as a versatile, highly communicative and inspirational young artist. She is currently Assistant Conductor of Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Before coming to Atlanta, Mei-Ann served as Assistant Conductor of the Oregon Symphony from 2003 to 2005 and in 2002, Chen was unanimously selected as Music Director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic in Oregon, the oldest of its kind and the model for many of the youth orchestras in the United States.
In her current role with ASO, Chen continues to inspire and work with young musicians in Atlanta. Her passion is to develop new and unique musicianship programs for the orchestra’s members.
Byeongho Choi
Dr. Rajeev Dhawan
Jay Eun
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Kai Hsu
CEO, Hotsauce Techonologies
HotSauce Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of restaurant management solutions, including POS systems, with operations in Chicago; New York; Charlotte, NC; and Taipei, Taiwan. The privately held company was founded in the mid 1990s and is on a fast growth track led by its 35-year old Chief Executive Officer, Kai Hsu.
Hsu’s leadership has led HotSauce Technologies to be amongst the premier POS service providers and early adopters of VOIP in the industry. His goal for HotSauce is to continue to deliver great products with high quality customer services.
Hsu is committed with his charitable giving to organizations such as World Vision
to assist underpriviliged children in third world countries. Hsu was also a generous financial donor for Atlanta’s Chinese fund raising effort for Sichuan earthquake victims in 2008.
Yuann L. Kuo
Commissioner, Tzu Chi Academy Atlanta
President, Kuolin Inc.
Chairman, GlobalCommerce Bank
In addition to being a successful entrepreneur as President of Kuolin Inc, Yuann Kuo also founded Global Commerce Bank in August of 1995 to serve the Asian Pacific community in Georgia. The bank started its operations with an office located in Asian Square on Buford Highway.
In 1999, she was appointed as the commissioner of Tzu-Chi Foundation in Atlanta; a non-profit organization for community service and outreach. As part of Tzu Chi Foundation’s international relief mission, she has traveled to Peru, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico and China for disaster relief efforts. She was in charge of Tzu Chi Foundation’s relief of 2005 Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi and tornado relief in Enterprise, Alabama in March 2007.
Of all the roles that she cherish, Mrs. Kuo treasured her role with Tzu Chi Academy as it demonstrates her spirit and compassion by helping others.
Joanne Liew
.
Lam Thanh Ngo
Narsi Narasimhan, PhD
Rima McGraw
Dr. P.V. Rao
Varinee Sangmalee
Dr. Josephine Tan
Community Development Region Manager,
Georgia Power
Chairwoman, Asian-American Commission for a New Georgia
Dr. Josephine Tan serves as chairwoman for the Asian American Commission for a New Georgia which Gov. Sonny Perdue established in July 2003. The commission has three sub-committees focusing on economic development, education, and health issues. Dr. Tan is also founding president of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Tan has been an advocate for positive race relations. She was a college professor at the University of Alabama and the University of Central Arkansas before she joined Georgia Power as a Senior Economist. In 2006, she joined the Community and Economic Development team and is reponsible for providing leadership for industry expansion and retention.
Dr. Tan is a frequent speaker on energy and diversity issues and has received numerous honors and awards including Atlanta Women’s 25 Most Powerful Women in 2007 and Women Looking Ahead’s 100 List of Most Powerful Women in 2006.
Sister Christine Truong My Hanh
Vijay Vemulapalli
Baoky Vu
Li K. Wang
Principal, Wang Law Firm
Wang is active in contributing his time selflessly to the Asian Pacific community. His desire to help people is what made him decide to switch careers from his formal engineering education to be an attorney. This is the work he finds most gratifying.
Wang’s firm specialize in patent and intellectual properties law.
He generously donates his time pro bono for legal assistance to Atlanta’s battered women’s group and grandparents’ adoption program in Georgia.
Wang is highly sought by professional organizations to share his advice and experience on their governing Boards. Among those groups are: Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Atlanta Asian Film Festival, and Monte Jade Science and Technology Association (Southeast chapter) . He also serves on the Board of Trustees for Shu-Te University in Kaoshiung, Taiwan.
Judge Alvin T. Wong
Judge, State Court of DeKalb County
Alvin T. Wong was elected Judge of the State Court of DeKalb County, Georgia’s third largest county, in 1998. He was the first Asian American to run for public office in metropolitan Atlanta and is the only Asian Pacific American to be elected judge in the Southeast. Judge Wong was elected in a county where Asians made up less than two percent of the registered voters and has served continuously unopposed for the past decade. In his years of judicial service, he has gained the respect of the entire legal community.
A former partner at Gambrell and Stolz law firm, Judge Wong had 21 years of experience as a corporate and trial attorney before running for office. He chaired the State Bar of Georgia’s Investigative Panel for disciplinary action against unethical practices by Georgia attorneys. His most recent project has been to create a DUI Court to treat chronic alcohol addiction.
He continues to work in the greater community. Judge Wong serves on the Fernbank Museum of Natural History Board of Trustees, the Georgia Commission on Access and Fairness in the Courts, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Law Foundation Board. He has mentored future leaders, serving as Co-Director of NAPABA’s Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition, which helps identify talented law students nationwide, and has volunteered with several county organizations dedicated to helping teenagers avoid drugs, pregnancy, and unemployment.
Judge Wong received the State Bar of Georgia’s 2002 Excellence in Bar Leadership Award for his work as co-founder of the Georgia Asian Bar and the architect of its free legal clinic for recent immigrants. He will be given the Distinguished Alumni Award by John Marshal Law School in May 2009.
Lani Wong
Chair, National Association of Chinese Americans (NACA)
Lani Wong serves as chair of the National Association of Chinese-Americans and the Asian American Coalition of Georgia. She serves as a volunteer liaison between Atlanta business and government officials, and their enterprise-minded Chinese equivalents.
Lani stresses the importance of Asian immigrant in Georgia in becoming citizens so they may participate in the political processes. She believes that more attention would be paid to Asian Pacific Islanders if they were registered voters.
She is widely known as a “power broker” in establishing introduction and networking for visiting Chinese officials with local political figures such as Gov. Sonny Perdue and Mayor Shirley Franklin. A past recipient of the Phoenix Award from Mayor Shirley Franklin for her dedication to community service.
She was also recognized by Beijing for her liason expertise with an invitation to a major political conference that only five US citizens are invited annually.
Stella Sixing Xu
China Project Manager, Global Trade and Tourism
Georgia Department of Economic Development
China has been an important trading partner for the state of Georgia and increasingly a source of new investments for the state. Realizing the growing potential in China, Georgia’s Department of Economic Development has hired Stella Xu to oversee the inward investments and tourism from China.
Her cultural and business insights on the Chinese market have paved the way for potential new investments and tourist from China.
Xu has been an active community volunteer since her days as a student at Georgia Perimeter College and Kennesaw State University. Stella was the first student to be invited as a Board member of Kennesaw’s Coles College of Business.
She also has volunteered countless hours assisting newly arrived international students and to promote cultural understanding through activities such as Lunar New Year Celebration and China Club.