BIOGRAPHY OF HIM MARK LAI
Mr. Him Mark Lai, known as the “Dean of Chinese American Studies” to many of his colleagues, is an
avid amateur Chinese American historian who made his living as an engineer. At a very early age, he
became interested in learning the Chinese language and attended Chinese school for ten years. His
bilingualism in English and Chinese has given him a uniquely broad perspective on researching Chinese
American history as well as the invaluable ability to participate actively in Chinese community events and
to collect Chinese American materials in Chinese. From the beginning of his interest in history, his goal
has been to discover and preserve the story of Chinese America that is told from the perspective of Chinese
Americans themselves. As he states in an essay entitled “The Chinese Language Sources Bibliography
Project: Preliminary Findings” in Amerasia Journal 5:2 (1978, 95-6),
Cultural and language gaps between Chinese and Westerners have often resulted in superficial
observation and erroneous conclusions. Colored by the racist attitudes of the period, these Englishlanguage sources seldom reflected the attitudes and experiences of the Chinese themselves. In
order to obtain more in-depth, objective studies of Chinese American culture and society; the
researcher must necessarily use course materials that originate from the Chinese community.
There is a vital relationship between the homeland and Chinese Americans. A profound understanding of
that relationship underlies Mr. Lai’s research on Chinese American history. He visits China frequently and
remains in contact with historians in China doing research on Chinese American history in order to share
research findings.
He was born on November 1, 1925 in San Francisco in a working class family. The family's Chinese
surname was Mark, but it became Lai in America because his father had entered the country as the paper
son of a merchant with surname Lai. Mr. Lai received an Associate of Arts degree from City College of
San Francisco in 1945 and a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of
California at Berkeley in 1947. He was a mechanical engineer at Bechtel Power Corporation from 1953 to
1984.
Through the influence of Mr. Yuk Ow, who taught in the same Chinese school that Mr. Lai attended, and
considered by many to be one of the pioneers in scholarly research in Chinese American history, Mr. Lai
learned to appreciate the importance of Chinese language sources in research on Chinese American history.
A member of the Chinese Historical Society of America since 1965, Mr. Lai has been very involved in
historical research in Chinese American history. At the end of 1967, he initiated a series of historical
articles in the Chinese American journal East/West. Up to 2003 he has written 54 essays and books in
English and Chinese, as well as contributed articles to 4 encyclopedias and other publications. His major
publications include A History Reclaimed: An Annotated Bibliography of Chinese language Materials on
the Chinese of America (1986) and From Overseas Chinese to Chinese American: History of Development
of Chinese American Society during the Twentieth Century (1992; in Chinese). In 2004 a selection of his
essays was published as Becoming Chinese American: Historical Essays on Communities and Institutions.
He also co-edited Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island (1980). When he
published his 13,000-word essay “Chinese on the Continental U.S.” in the Harvard Encyclopedia of
American Ethnic Groups in 1980, he was already nationally and internationally known for his expertise. He
also contributed a number of articles to the Asian American Encyclopedia in 1995, as well as articles on
Chinese language schools to the Encyclopedia of Chinese Overseas (in Chinese) published in Beijing in
1999. In 1998 his 10,000-word essay on the Chinese in America was included in the Encyclopedia of
Chinese Overseas published by Singapore's Chinese Heritage Centre in English and traditional and
simplified Chinese characters.
Because he is noted for his scholarship on Chinese American history, many organizations often request his
services as a consultant. Furthermore, he has been elected president and board member of many
organizations. He has been a consultant to one of the first television productions on Chinese America
history, Gum Saan Haak: A History of Chinese in California (San Francisco Channel 4, 1972-74), as well
as the Angel Island film, Carved in Silence (Felicia Lowe, 1981-87). He was the president of the Chinese
Historical Society of America in 1971, 1976 and 1977 and of the Chinese Culture Foundation of San
Francisco in 1982. From 1986 to the present, he has served on the editorial board of the journal Chinese
America: History and Perspectives as well as on the editorial board of Amerasia Journal, from 1979 to the
present. He has also taught Chinese American history courses at San Francisco State University (1960,
1972-75) and at the University of California at Berkeley (1978, 1979 and 1984).
Mr. Lai served as a member of the Library Advisory Committee to support the establishment of the former
Asian American Studies Library at the University of California, Berkeley (1980-1982) and as
consultant/curator for the Chinese American archives collection (1986-1988) in that library.
Because of his outstanding work and tireless service to the Chinese community, he has received numerous
service and lifetime achievement awards from various agencies, such as Chinese for Affirmative Action
(1975), Chinese Historical Society of America (1985, 1998), Chinese Cultural Foundation of San Francisco
(1987), and Association for Asian American Studies (1990, 1993). He also received an award from the
Guangdong Province Overseas Chinese Affairs Office in the city of Guangzhou (2001) for his pioneering
work with the “In Search of Roots” Program. This innovative program is helping young people find their
roots in their ancestral homeland.
Since 1953, Mr. Lai has been married to Laura Jung, who wholeheartedly supports his interests as a
historian and plays an important role as his research assistant.
Wei Chi Poon
Ethnic Studies Library
University of California at Berkeley
April 9, 2004