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The Robert Chinn Foundation is ecstatic to share with you the entire Class of 2016! We are proud to honor this incredible group of Asian Pacific Americans including Connie Chung, Bruce Lee, Antonio Taguba, and Kristi Yamaguchi!
Connie Chung
Connie Chung started her television journalism career in 1969 at a local station in her hometown, Washington, D.C.
She worked for all the major networks, starting in 1971 with CBS News, covering politics and world news for the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. She reported on presidential campaigns, the SALT I talks between Nixon and Brezhnev, and Watergate. Later, in 1993, she was the first woman to co-anchor the network’s national flagship news broadcast, the CBS Evening News.
She has covered conventions and elections since 1972, anchored several prime-time network magazine programs and conducted a series of exclusive interviews: PRC leader Li Peng on the five-year anniversary of Tiananmen Square; the first and only interview with Joseph Hazelwood, captain of the Exxon Valdez; the first interview with Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson after he announced he was HIV positive; and Congressman Gary Condit (D-CA) concerning the disappearance of intern Chandra Levy.
Ms. Chung has received numerous awards, including the George Foster Peabody Award, 3 Emmy awards, the Amnesty International Human Rights Award and several awards for an investigative hour on a 1966 civil-rights case. The report resulted in the indictment, trial and conviction of a murderer more than three decades later.
In 1997, she was a Harvard fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Maryland, Journalism Board of Visitors of the Philip Merrill College at University of Maryland, the Advisory Board of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and the Flathead Beacon Foundation in Montana.
She and her husband, Maury Povich, live with their son, Matthew, in Manhattan.
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco on November 27, 1940 in the year of the Dragon while his father was on tour with the Chinese Opera.
Lee was raised, however, in Hong Kong, where he began his first formal training in martial arts with Wing Chung master, Yip Man when he was 13. At the age of 18, Lee returned to the United States and attended the University of Washington in Seattle. As a philosophy student at the University, he began to train students in the art of the Chinese Gung Fu. Lee met his wife Linda during this time and opened his first school, the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute.
Lee later opened schools in Oakland and Los Angeles while he and Linda raised their son Brandon and daughter Shannon. Lee quickly began to develop new ideas about martial arts and training based on many of his experiences, leading him to the creation of his own art called Jeet Kune Do. He went on to train many private celebrity students, such as Steve McQueen and James Coburn, and became a celebrity in his own right with his entree into American media via The Green Hornet. His later films catapulted him into iconic status.
Bruce Lee’s life was cut short when he died in 1973 from a cerebral edema caused by an allergic reaction to pain medication. One of TIME magazine’s 100 most important people of the 20thcentury, a Martial Arts Hall of Fame Inductee, and with a well-deserved Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Lee’s contributions to many fields continue to be strong. Even four decades after his passing, he remains one of the most relevant sources of inspiration and motivation to millions around the world. Bruce Lee will be represented at the Asian Hall of Fame by the Bruce Lee Foundation.
Major General Tony Taguba
Major General Tony Taguba served 34 years on active duty. He retired on January 1, 2007.
Born in Manila, Philippines, he immigrated to the United States in July 1961. Commissioned as an Armor Officer from Idaho State University in 1972, he served in numerous command and staff positions with service assignments in the continental United States, South Korea, Germany, and deployments to Kuwait and Iraq.
During Operations Iraqi Freedom, he served as Deputy Commanding General for Support, Coalition Forces Land Component Command(CFLCC)/Army Central Command/Third U.S. Army forward deployed to Kuwait and Iraq. He was responsible for overseeing logistical and support services to U.S. and Coalition forces totaling over 150,000 troops conducting combat operations. His duty also included the coordination of host nation support from the Government of Kuwait, and security cooperation and training requirements with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar.
Upon his return from deployment, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Pentagon. In his final assignment on active duty, he served as Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army Reserve Command.
His military awards include the Army Distinguished Service Medal (2 awards), Legion of Merit (4 awards), Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (6 awards), Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, and Army Staff Identification Badge.
Taguba served as Vice President for Army Account, SERCO Inc, a global services company from 2007 to 2008. He is the President of TDLS Consulting LLC, a business consulting services company for corporate and nonprofit organizations. He is also involved in a great deal of charitable work, from assisting Veterans with their benefits and health care needs, raising funds for college scholarships, and as a volunteer at the United Service Organizations (USO). He is the Chairman of Pan Pacific American Leaders and Mentors (PPALM), the Chairman of the Filipino Veterans Education and Recognition Project (FILVETREP), a Member of the Board of Directors for the armed Forces Insurance Company, and a Community Ambassador for AARP.
He is married to Debra Ann Taguba. They have 2 adult children- Lindsay Taguba Keys and Captain Sean T. Taguba, and twin granddaughters, Ibby and Lily.
Kristi Yamaguchi
Born in Hayward, CA and raised in Fremont, CA, Kristi Yamaguchi has had an incredible impact as an Olympic athlete, philanthropist, author, artist, businesswoman, wife, and mother. Her Japanese heritage stems from both her mother’s and father’s side, with her mother’s parents being among those sent to internment camps during World War II.
Born with clubfoot, figure skating began for Yamaguchi as a form of physical therapy. Her career escalated quickly, and Yamaguchi won her first junior national title as a pair with Rudy Galindo in 1986. After much success as a pairs team with Galindo, Yamaguchi went on to focus on her singles career. Rising in the ranks, she peaked at the right time as world champion in 1991 and US, World, and Olympic Champion in 1992.
Following her victory at the 1992 Winter Olympics, Yamaguchi founded the still-active Always Dream Foundation to support the lives of children through educational and recreational activities. She also stayed involved in world of figure skating, competing and touring as a professional with Stars on Ice, serving as the Goodwill Ambassador during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and being a spokesperson for various U.S. Figure Skating campaigns. Yamaguchi continued to achieve as a children’s book author as well as developing the Tsu.ya clothing line.
Her list of accolades is lengthy, including 1996 Skater of the Year by American Skating World magazine, U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame inductee in 1998, World Figure Skating Hall of Fame inductee in 1999, USOC Olympic Hall of Fame inductee in 2005, and the 2008 recipient of the Thurman Munson Award for excellence in competition and philanthropic work. She received further national recognition as the winner of the sixth season of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.
Yamaguchi is active in the community and her career, but her priority remains her family, including her husband Bret and daughters Keara Kiyomi and Emma Yoshiko.
