A man recognized as a pioneer in Asian American Studies and served as director of the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA for 20 years has died, the university announced.
Don Nakanishi was a member of the faculty for 35 years before he retired as a professor emeritus of Asian American Studies in 2009.
“Don’s contributions to Asian American studies and ethnic studies were pioneering, and those of us at UCLA were the prime beneficiaries of Don’s leadership and scholarship,” said David Yoo, professor and director of the center.
Nakanishi co-founded the Amerasia Journal and the National Asian Pacific American Political Almanac. The Yale grad who received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1978 wrote more than 100 books, articles and reports. Many of them were on his favorite topic- the political participation of Asian Americans and other ethnic groups.
You can read his complete biography here.
Additional Coverage:
Don Nakanishi, Exemplar of Asian American Studies
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