List of Chinese Americans

The following is a list of Chinese Americans who are famous, have made significant contributions to the American culture or society politically, artistically or scientifically, or have appeared in the news numerous times:

Surnames A-C

• Jin Au-yeung - rapper
• Bette Bao Lord (包柏漪) - writer, novelist
• Norman Bay - former U.S. Attorney
• Tyson Beckford - male supermodel and actor
• Chang and Eng Bunker - Siamese twins pioneer immigrants
• Flora Chan - Hong Kong singer/actress
• Johnny Chan - Professional Poker Player
• Eileen Chang - writer
• Iris Chang (張純如) - writer *
• Jeff Chang - journalist, hip-hop historian
• Lan Samantha Chang - writer; director of the Iowa Writer's Workshop
• Michael Chang - youngest male tennis player to win a Grand Slam tournament
• Min Chueh Chang (張明覺) - co-inventor of the birth control pill.
• Elaine Chao - Secretary of Labor *
• Rosalind Chao - actor
• Joan Chen - actress, director
• Julie Chen - newsreader on The Early Show and host of Big Brother
• Steve Chen - computer scientist, supercomputer designer, Cray
• Chi Cheng - bassist to alternative metal band, Deftones
• Anna Chen Chennault (陳香梅) - author, journalist, notable in American public life; also, wife of Claire Chennault, of the Flying Tigers
• Shiing-Shen Chern - mathematician
• Leroy Chiao - NASA astronaut
• Maj. Arthur Chin (陳瑞鈿) - WW II pilot and fighter ace
• Denny Chin - federal judge, Southern District of New York
• Frank Chin (趙健秀) - novelist, playwright, and essayist
• Chin Lin Sou - community leader
• Tiffany Chin (陳婷婷) - figure skater
• Vincent Chin - victim of racial crime
• Alex Chiu - eccentric
• Ben Chiu (邱澤堃) - founder of KillerApp.com
• Annabel Chong - adult film actress
• Ping Chong - contemporary theater director
• Amy Chow (周婉儀) - gymnast and Olympic medal winner
• China Chow - actress, model (father is Chinese-American)
• Norm Chow (周友賢) - Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator
• Wen Tsing Chow (周文俊) - missile guidance scientist, digital computer pioneer
• David Chu (朱欽騏) - fashion designer and founder of Nautica *
• David S. C. Chu - United States Undersecretary of Defense for Readiness.
• Paul C. W. Chu (朱經武) - physicist, superconductivity
• Steven Chu - 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, first Asian-American to run one of the 16 national laboratories operated by the Department of Energy (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
• Kam Fong Chun, actor
• Connie Chung - TV news anchor, the second woman ever to anchor a national news program
• Fan Chung - mathematician
• Rachel Anderson - the coolest of them all
• Yung Kanuma - ugly man of the ugly tribe
• Steph Hunt - almost cooler than Yung Kanuma
• Dashulahanihan Wakanonohano - Nobel Prize in the dumness catagory and the guy with the longest name ever
• Randall Clark - the Chinese person who changed their name the most dramatically from Chang Nung Wung Fung Chhu Nu to Randall Clark! Congrratulations
• Dad - he is cool

Surnames D-K

• Hiram L. Fong - former Republican U.S. Senator from Hawaii
• Matthew K. Fong - former Republican state treasurer of California
• Ben Fong-Torres (方振豪) - journalist, Rolling Stone
• Mark Foo - professional surfer
• Dr. David Ho (何大一) - AIDS researcher
• Haing S. Ngor - Chinese Cambodian actor; won an Oscar for Best Supporting actor in The Killing Fields
• Kelly Hu - actress
• Jen-Hsun Huang (黃仁勳) - cofounder, CEO, Nvidia
• William Hung - of American Idol fame
• James Hong, actor
• Maxine Hong Kingston - writer, novelist
• James Wong Howe (黃宗霑) - two-time Academy Award winning cinematographer
• David Henry Hwang (黃哲倫) - playwright
• Rupert Jee - owner of the Hello Deli next to the Ed Sullivan Theatre; has made numerous appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman
• Gish Jen - writer, novelist
• Ha Jin - novelist, winner of the National Book Award for "Waiting"
• Andrea Jung (鍾彬嫻)- CEO, Avon products
• Archie Kao - Actor and model
• Min Kao - Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Garmin Ltd
• Kelis - singer [2] "Kelis, born to a Puerto Rican and Chinese mother and African-American father, began her singing aspirations as a child with the Girl's Choir of Harlem."
• Michelle Kwan (關穎珊) - figure skater [3]
• Nancy Kwan (關南施) - first Chinese-born star in Western cinema website

Surnames L-M

• Bruce Lee - martial artist, kung fu actor
• Brandon Lee -actor
• CoCo Lee - singer
• Gus Lee (李健孫) - writer
• Harry Lee, Sheriff of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.
• Henry C. Lee - forensic scientist
• Jason Scott Lee (李截) - actor
• Tsung-dao Lee (李政道) - 1957 Nobel laureate in Physics
• Wen Ho Lee (李文和) - nuclear physicist, accused spy (acquitted) *
• Lena Li - Playboy model *
• Jet Li (李連杰) - action movie actor
• Annie Lin - singer-songwriter
• Carol Lin - news anchor
• Maya Lin (林瓔) - architect (Vietnam Veterans Memorial)
• Sam Chu Lin - journalist, one of the first Asian Americans on network TV news
• T. Y. Lin - civil engineer (bridgebuilder)
• Bai Ling - actress
• Lisa Ling (凌志慧) (1973 - ) journalist, known for her role as a co-host of ABC's The View and host of National Geographic Ultimate Explorer
• Eric Liu - writer, a speechwriter of Bill Clinton *
• Lucy Liu - actress
• Liu Yong-chuan - overseas student leader
• Gary Locke - former Democratic Governor of Washington
• John Lone (尊龍) - actor, most notable for his role as Pu Yi in The Last Emperor
• David Wong Louie - writer
• Edward Lu - NASA astronaut
• Lue Gim Gong - In 1888, he invented an orange, which is still grown in Florida, that survives cold weather
• Keye Luke - actor
• Adeline Yen Mah (馬嚴君玲) - author and physician
• Yo-Yo Ma (馬友友) - cellist
• Benny Mao (毛道彰) - singer-songwriter
• Dawn Xiana Moon - singer-songwriter, model, writer

Surnames N-V

• Irene Ng - Chinese Malaysian actress who played the title character in Nickelodeon's The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo
• Kim Ng (伍佩琴) - baseball executive
• Wilber Pan - Taiwanese pop star *
• I. M. Pei (貝聿銘) - architect, designed the Louvre Pyramid
• Robin Shou (仇雲波) - martial artist
• Soong Mei-Ling a.k.a. Madame Chiang Kai-Shek
• Anna Sui - fashion designer
• Kobe Tai - adult film actress *
• Vivienne Tam (譚燕玉) - fashion designer
• Amy Tan - best-selling author
• Tan Dun - Grammy and Oscar award winning composer; recipient of the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for his opera Marco Polo
• Thomas Tang - judge
• Terence Tao - mathematician
• Vienna Teng - singer-songwriter
• Chang-lin Tien - professor, former chancellor UC Berkeley
• Jennifer Tilly - actress (born in California)
• Meg Tilly - actress *
• Samuel C. C. Ting - 1976 Nobel laureate, Physics
• Chuti Tiu - actress, "Desire", "24", "Dragnet", "Beautiful", "The Specials", former America's Junior Miss (first non-Caucasian winner) *
• Lauren Tom - actress
• Kaity Tong - Television news anchor, WPIX-TV
• Ming Tsai (蔡明)- chef and restaurateur (Blue Ginger); host of Emmy Award winning television show "East Meets West"
• Daniel Chee Tsui - 1998 Nobel prize, Physics

Surnames W-Z

• An Wang - computer engineer and inventor; co-founder of Wang Laboratories
• Charles Wang (王嘉廉) - founder, CEO, chairman, Computer Associates
• Chien-Ming Wang (王建民) - pitcher of the New York Yankees, #40 *

• Lili Wang - murdered at her university
• Garrett Wang (王以瞻) - actor in Star Trek: Voyager
• Lee-Hom Wang (王力宏) - Taiwanese pop singer *
• Taylor Wang - first ethnic Chinese scientist to go into space, 1985 on space shuttle Challenger
• Vera Wang - fashion designer
• Wayne Wang - Hollywood director
• Pei-Yuan Wei - creator of ViolaWWW
• Ming-Na Wen - Macanese-born actress
• Anna May Wong - first female Asian-American star of the screen
• B. D. Wong (黃榮亮) - actor in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, winner of a Tony Award for M Butterfly
• Jade Snow Wong - writer
• Russell Wong (王盛德) - actor
• Timothy C. Wong (黃宗泰) - Sinologist, translator, and literary theorist
• Victor Wong (黃自強) - Hollywood actor
• Shien Biau Woo (吳仙標) - former attorney general and lieutenant governor of Delaware, current president of the 80-20 Initiative
• Chien-Shiung Wu (吳健雄)- female scientist
• David Wu - first and only Chinese American U.S. Representative, Democrat from Oregon
• Frank Wu - science-fiction artist
• Harry Wu - human rights activist
• Kiko Wu - adult model and actress
• Martin Yan - host of Yan Can Cook
• Chen Ning Yang (楊振寧) - 1957 Nobel laureate in Physics
• Henry Yang (楊祖佑) - chancellor, UC Santa Barbara
• Jeff Yang - writer, media/business consultant, Asian American culture columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle
• Jerry Yang (楊致遠) - founder of Yahoo! *
• Ruby Yang (楊紫燁) Filmmaker, Editor
• Welly Yang - actor and artist *
• Shing-Tung Yau (丘成桐) - mathematician
• James Yee - Army Captain formerly charged with sedition
• Laurence Yep (叶祥添)- author of children's books
• Katherine Young (郑珣) - world's oldest user of the Internet
• Kaila Yu (于丽萍) - model and singer *
• Anthony Yuen - journalist
• Judy Yung - writer
• Yung Wing (容闳) - first Chinese and Asian to obtain a degree from an American college (Yale University)
• Helen Zia (謝漢蘭) - community activist and writer

Notes

• Whether Taiwanese Americans are consider Chinese American is a controversial political issue. Asterisks (*) indicate persons whose families have had ties to Taiwan. See also Taiwanese American and List of Taiwanese Americans.