Frank H. Wu
Encyclopedia
Frank H. Wu is a law professor, author, and public intellectual. He has been chancellor and dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...

 of University of California, Hastings College of the Law
University of California, Hastings College of the Law
University of California, Hastings College of the Law is a public law school in San Francisco, California, located in the Civic Center neighborhood....

 in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, a position he assumed in July 2010. He is the first Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

 professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 to teach at Howard Law School, as well as the first Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

 to serve as dean of Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School is located in the City of Detroit’s Cultural Center, and is one of the schools of Wayne State University. It is one of two public law schools in the state of Michigan. The Law School has educated and trained lawyers since 1927, and its 10,000+ alumni serve as...

 in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

. Wu is the author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White, which was immediately re-printed in hardcover. Arguing for a new paradigm of civil rights that goes beyond a black-white paradigm, while also addressing subtle forms of racial discrimination, the book has become canonical in Asian American Studies and is widely used in classes on the subject. Yellow appears in both the film, Americanese, an adaptation of American Knees
American Knees
American Knees is a novel written by Shawn Wong, first published in 1995 by Simon & Schuster. It is currently published by the University of Washington Press...

by Shawn Wong, and the book, Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology. Wu himself has appeared as a character in Asian America: The Movement and the Moment.

In addition, Wu received the largest grant issued by the federal Civil Liberties and Public Education Fund, to co-author Race, Rights and Reparation: Law and the Japanese Internment, now the leading textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...

 on Asian Americans and the law. He also contributes to Fanfare Magazine
Fanfare Magazine
Fanfare is a magazine devoted to reviewing classical music performance and recordings.Fanfare's contributors have a range of expertise from the medieval to contemporary work...

, reviews for ATPM.com (About This Particular Macintosh), and regularly publishes in various other law reviews, newspapers, and online journals. Wu is represented by the American Programs Bureau and is currently writing a follow-up book to Yellow about the Vincent Chin
Vincent Chin
Vincent Jen Chin was a Chinese American beaten to death in June 1982 in the United States, in the Detroit, Michigan enclave of Highland Park by Chrysler plant superintendent Ronald Ebens, with the help of his stepson, Michael Nitz...

 case.

Early years

The son of Chinese immigrants from Taiwan to the United States, Wu was born in Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, on August 20, 1967. In his youth, Wu’s parents moved to Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

, where his father worked as an engineer at Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

. In his book Yellow and other writings, Wu claims that his childhood experience of being the only Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

 among his classmates and the schoolyard taunting he endured as a result of his race alerted him to racial inequalities at an early age. He further describes how his attempts to assimilate and reject what was “Asian” only seemed to reinforce his marked difference to his peers.

When Wu was a teenager, a Chinese American
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...

 man, Vincent Chin
Vincent Chin
Vincent Jen Chin was a Chinese American beaten to death in June 1982 in the United States, in the Detroit, Michigan enclave of Highland Park by Chrysler plant superintendent Ronald Ebens, with the help of his stepson, Michael Nitz...

, was killed by two white autoworkers in Highland Park, Michigan. The multiple criminal and civil cases that ensued throughout the 1980s have been recognized as birthing the Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

 victims and civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...

, and were marked as the 34th Michigan Legal Milestone in 2009. It was the Vincent Chin
Vincent Chin
Vincent Jen Chin was a Chinese American beaten to death in June 1982 in the United States, in the Detroit, Michigan enclave of Highland Park by Chrysler plant superintendent Ronald Ebens, with the help of his stepson, Michael Nitz...

 case that inspired Wu to pursue an active role in civil rights advocacy and the law.

Career

Wu has been chancellor and dean of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law
University of California, Hastings College of the Law
University of California, Hastings College of the Law is a public law school in San Francisco, California, located in the Civic Center neighborhood....

 in San Francisco since 2010. He was formerly a law professor at Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...

, resuming a role he held from 1995 to 2004, and visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

, where he taught Asian Americans and the Law. He also was a CV Starr Foundation Visiting Professor at the School of Transnational Law at Peking University
School of Transnational Law at Peking University
The Peking University School of Transnational Law is located in Shenzhen, China. The school started in the fall of 2008 as a part of the Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University. It is the first law school to offer a traditional western-style Juris Doctor curriculum alongside a Chinese-style...

, in its English language JD program, in summer of 2009. He has previously taught at Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

, Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

, Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, Maryland
University of Maryland
When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...

, George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...

, and Deep Springs College
Deep Springs College
Deep Springs is a private, all-male , alternative college in Deep Springs, California, in the United States. A two-year college, the institution currently aims for a student body size of 26, though the number is occasionally lower...

.

From 2004-2008, Wu served as the ninth dean of Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School is located in the City of Detroit’s Cultural Center, and is one of the schools of Wayne State University. It is one of two public law schools in the state of Michigan. The Law School has educated and trained lawyers since 1927, and its 10,000+ alumni serve as...

 in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

, succeeding the law school’s first female dean, Joan Mahoney
Joan Mahoney
Joan Mahoney is distinguished legal scholar and former dean of two law schools. She served as Dean at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, Michigan, from 1998 to 2003, the first woman law school dean in Michigan and one of the very few women in the United States to have held the deanship...

 (1998–2003). Along with Harold Hongju Koh
Harold Hongju Koh
Harold Hongju Koh is an Korean American lawyer and legal scholar. He currently serves as the Legal Adviser of the Department of State. He was nominated to his current position by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2009, and confirmed by the Senate on June 25, 2009.In public service, Koh...

 of Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...

 and Jim Chen
Jim Chen
Jim Chen is the current Dean of the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, after recently leaving his position as professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School...

 of the University of Louisville School of Law, Wu was one of only three Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

 law school deans in the United States. In April 2007, Wu announced he would resign as dean in May 2008, a year before his appointment was to end, citing his wife's health problems as the leading cause of his resignation. In 2008, he was one of two recipients of the Asian Pacific Fund Chang-Lin Tien Award, given for leadership in higher education. Named for the first Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

 to head a major research university, the award comes with a $10,000 honorarium. He also has received the Trailblazer Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Wu earned his bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

 in 1988 and his law degree
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 from the University of Michigan Law School
University of Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws degrees, although the school also offers a Doctor of Juridical...

 in 1991. In 2006, he completed the Management Development Program at Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Prior to his academic career, Wu held a clerkship with the late U.S. District Judge Frank J. Battisti in Cleveland, Ohio. He then joined the law firm of Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco, concentrating on complex litigation and devoting a quarter of his time to the representation of indigent individuals.

Other activities

Wu recently accepted the Trustees of Deep Springs
Deep Springs
Deep Springs may refer to:*Deep Springs, California, unincorporated community in Inyo County*Deep Springs College, nontraditional two-year institution located in Deep Springs Valley...

' invitation to join the college's governing board. Wu previously served as a Trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...

 of Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is a federally-chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing, located in the District of Columbia, U.S...

, the school for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, from 2000-2010. As a board member, Wu emphasized the significance of shared governance, asserting that decision-making authority at a university leads by serving its many stakeholders, the most important of which are the students. He became Vice-Chair of that Board following the protests over the appointment of Provost Jane Fernandes as President, in 2006. He also is a board member of the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights Education Fund, commissioner of the Military Leadership Diversity Commission, and director of the Committee of 100 (United States)
Committee of 100 (United States)
The Committee of 100 is a group of prominent Chinese Americans with the mission to "pool their strengths and experience to address important issues concerning the Chinese American community, as well as issues affecting Sino-American relations." It was founded in 1990.The declared key functions of...

, the non-profit group of Chinese Americans seeking to promote better US-China relations and the active participation of Chinese Americans in public life, and has chaired its many research projects. He was the Project Advisor for the Detroit Historical Museum
Detroit Historical Museum
The Detroit Historical Museum is located at 5401 Woodward Avenue in the city's Cultural Center Historic District in Midtown Detroit. It chronicles the history of the Detroit area from cobblestone streets, 19th century stores, the auto assembly line, toy trains, fur trading from the 18th century,...

 exhibit on Chinatown, which opened in spring 2009.

In 2008, Wu testified before the Detroit City Council
Detroit City Council
The Detroit City Council is the legislative body of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The City Council consists of nine members elected for a four-year term in a single election conducted on an at-large and non-partisan basis...

 regarding governmental reforms following the controversy regarding Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
Kwame Kilpatrick
Kwame Malik Kilpatrick is a former mayor of Detroit, Michigan. Kilpatrick's mayorship was plagued by numerous scandals and rampant accusations of corruption, with the mayor eventually resigning after being charged with ten felony counts, including perjury and obstruction of justice...

. He also has testified before the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an independent federal law enforcement agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, perceived intelligence,...

, and he appeared as an expert witness on behalf of students who intervened in the historic University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 affirmative action case.

Wu frequently appears in the media and on the college lecture circuit. He has debated Dinesh D'Souza
Dinesh D'Souza
Dinesh D'Souza is an author and public speaker and a former Robert and Karen Rishwain Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He is currently the President of The King's College in New York City. D'Souza is a noted Christian apologist and conservative writer and speaker....

 and Ward Connerly
Ward Connerly
Wardell Anthony "Ward" Connerly is an American political activist, businessman, and former University of California Regent . He is also the founder and the chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, a national non-profit organization in opposition to racial and gender preferences...

, among others, on affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...

 and has appeared on both the O'Reilly Factor and Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....

 discussing the same.

Honors and awards

  • (2008) Asian Pacific Fund Chang-Lin Tien Award
  • (2008) Trailblazer Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
  • (2007) Arthur A. Fletcher Award, American Association for Affirmative Action
  • (2007) Special Recognition Award, Wolverine Bar Association
  • (2006) Walton A. Lewis Brotherhood Award, Bethel A.M.E. Church, Detroit, Michigan
  • (2005) Janet A. Helms Mentoring Award, Columbia University, Teacher's College
  • (2005) Tim Dinan Community Service Award, Oakland County (Mich.) Democratic Party
  • (2004) Named among 20 "Giants in the Classroom" by Black Issues in Higher Education magazine in its 20th anniversary issue (now Diverse Issues in Higher Education)
  • (2004) National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s "Best Lawyers Under 40"
  • (2004) Crain’s magazine "40 under 40"

Publications

Books (author)
  • Frank H. Wu (2002). Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White.
  • Frank H. Wu, Margaret Chon, Eric Yamamoto, Jerry Kang, Carol Izumi (2001). Race, Rights & Reparations: Law and the Japanese Internment.


Books (chapter)
  • George Curry, Theodore Hsien Wang (1996). The Affirmative Action Debate.
  • Charles Cozic (1996). Illegal Immigration: Opposing Viewpoints.


Books (foreword)
  • Wing Young Huie (2007). Looking for Asian American.
  • Hazel M. McFerson (editor) (2001). Blacks and Asians: Crossings, Conflict and Commonality.


Articles (op-ed)
  • Frank H. Wu (22 April 2009). "Why Law School Is for Everyone." U.S. News & World Report.
  • Frank H. Wu (19 February 2009). "FDR New Deal Legacy Intact, but Internment of Japanese-Americans Lives in Infamy Too." U.S. News & World Report.
  • Frank H. Wu (20 August 2008). "On Race: A mockery of Olympic ideals." San Francisco Chronicle.
  • Frank H. Wu (17 July 2005). "We all favor diversity, now plan out best path." Detroit Free Press.
  • Frank H. Wu (14 June 2002). "The Invisibility of Asian American Scholars." The Chronicle Review.
  • Frank H. Wu, Theodore Hsien Wang (30 August 2000). "Singled Out, Based on Race." Washington Post: A25.
  • Frank H. Wu (3 February 1992). "The Fallout From Japan-Bashing." Washington Post: A11.
  • Frank H. Wu (21 January 1991). "...And Others." Washington Post: A21.
  • Frank H. Wu (18 August 1990). "On With The Show; It's wrong to reduce each of us to our respective race." Washington Post: A21.


Articles (law)
  • Frank H. Wu (2011). "Justice Through Pragmatism and Process: A Tribute to Judge Denny Chin." 79 Fordham L. Rev. 1497.
  • Frank H. Wu (2010). "Beyond the Symbolic Black and White: The New Challenges of a Diverse Democracy." 53 Howard L.J. 807.
  • Frank H. Wu (2009). "Burning Shoes and the Spirit World: The Charade of Neutrality." 44 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 313.
  • Frank H. Wu (3 November 2008). "Parental expectations." The National Law Journal.
  • Frank H. Wu (2004). "Difficult Decisions During Wartime: A Letter from a Non-Alien in an Internment Camp to a Friend Back Home." 54 Case W. Res. 1301.
  • Frank H. Wu (2003). "The Arrival of Asian Americans: An Agenda for Legal Scholarship." 10 Asian L.J. 1.
  • Frank H. Wu (January 2001). "Settlements: Winning Over Your Own Client." Practical Litigator 12(1): 5.
  • Frank H. Wu (July 2000). "Getting Down to Cases." Practical Litigator 11(4): 5.
  • Frank H. Wu (September 2000). "Goodbye to the Bluebook?" Practical Litigator 11(5): 5.
  • Frank H. Wu (February 1996). "Changing America: Three Arguments About Asian Americans and the Law." 45 Am. U.L. Rev. 811.


Articles (scholarly)
  • Frank H. Wu (2009–2010). "Embracing Mistaken Identity: How the Vincent Chin Case Unified Asian Americans." Asian American Policy Review.
  • Frank H. Wu (20 May 2004). "Brown at 50: Keeping Promises." Black Issues in Higher Education.
  • Frank H. Wu (2003). "Profiling Principle: The Prosecution of Wen Ho Lee and the Defense of Asian Americans.” Asian American Politics: Law, Participation, and Policy.
  • Frank H. Wu, Francey Lim Youngberg (2001). "'People from China Crossing the River': Asian Americans & Foreign Influence.” Asian Americans and Politics: Perspectives, Experiences, Prospects.
  • Frank H. Wu, Gabriel Chin, Sumi Cho, Jerry Kang (1996). Beyond Self-Interest: Asian Pacific Americans Toward a Community of Justice, a policy analysis of affirmative action.

Filmography

  • "Politics and Economy: Frank H. Wu on Race in America." NOW. PBS. Commentary broadcast April 12, 2002.
  • "Politics and Economy: Frank H. Wu on the Fourth of July." NOW. PBS. Commentary broadcast July 5, 2002.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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