EDUCATION
University of California, Berkeley, California 94720 Ph.D. degree in History awarded 1975.
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 Master's degree awarded June 1967.
University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024Bachelor's degree with highest honors awarded June 1965.
TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Department of History: Assistant Professor, 1975-1979.
Associate Professor, 1979-present. Director of International Programs, January 1985-June
1987. Chairperson, Department of History, 1994-1996
University of California Berkeley, Department of History: Teaching Assistant, 1971-1973.
San Francisco State University, San Francisco, Department of History: Lecturer, 1971-1973.
Harvard University, Cambridge, Department of East Asian Languages: Teaching Fellow, 1967.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Book manuscript, tentative title: "Chinese Americans and the Search for Green Gold: A History of the Chinese in the Lumbering Industry in the Sierra Nevada, 1860-1900."
FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS
“The Zhigongtang: A Chinese American Secret Society,” in a book edited by Wen-hsin Yeh and Joseph Eshrick, Berkeley: University of California Press, forthcoming in 2006.
PUBLICATIONS (refereed)
Chinese American Death Rituals: Respecting the Ancestors edited by Sue Fawn Chung and Priscilla Wegars, including "Introduction" by Sue Fawn Chung and Priscilla Wegars, “Venerate These Bones: Chinese American Burial Practices as Seen in Carlin, Nevada,” co-authored with Fred Frampton and Terry Murphy, and “Respecting Ancestors in Hawai’i,” co-authored with Reiko Neizman, Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press, 2005.
“The Chinese,” in The Peoples of Las Vegas: One City, Many Faces edited by Thomas Wright and Jerry Simich, Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2005, Chapter 6.
“The Anti-Chinese Movement in Tonopah, Nevada,” in Chinese America: History and Perspectives 2003, (January 2003), 35-45.
“The Zhigongtang and Chinese American Funerary Rituals,” in The Chinese in America: From Gold Mountain to the New Millennium, edited by Susie Cassel, (Walnut Creek: Alta Mira Press, (2002), 217-238.
“Between Two Worlds: Ah Cum Kee (1876-1929) and Loy Lee Ford (1882-1921),” in Ordinary
Women, Extraordinary Lives: A History of Women in America, edited by Kriste Lindenmeyer (Delaware: Scholarly Resources, 2000), 179-195.
“Fighting for Their American Rights: A History of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance,” in Claiming America: Constructing Chinese American Identities during the Exclusion Era, edited by K. Scott Wong and Sucheng Chan, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998), 95-126.
"Their Changing World: Chinese Women of the Comstock," in Women on the Comstock: The Making of a Mining Community, edited by Ronald James and C. Elizabeth Raymond, (Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 1997), 203-228.
“Savouring History: The Story of Missy Wah and the Nevada Frontier,” in Nevada: Readings and Perspectives, edited by Michael S. Green and Gary E. Elliott, (Reno: Nevada Historical Society, 1997), 252-256.
“Destination: Nevada, the Silver Mountain” in Origins and Destinations: 1992 Conference on Chinese Americans, (Los Angeles, CA: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California and UCLA Asian American Studies, 1994), 111-139.
“I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad” (on the Chinese and the Central Pacific Railroad), The World and I (August, 1991), 420-431.
"Gue Gim Wah: A Pioneering Chinese American Woman of Nevada," in History and Humanities, edited by Francis X. Hartigan, (Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 1989), 45-79.
"The Chinese American Citizens Alliance: An Effort in Assimilation, 1895-1965," in Chinese America: History and Perspectives 1988 edited by the Chinese Historical Society of America, San Francisco, 1988, 30-57. This article has been translated into Chinese and appeared in a 1989 journal published by the Jinan University Overseas Chinese History Research Institute (Jinan daxue huajiao yanjiu so).
"The Chinese Experience in Nevada: Success Despite Discrimination," Nevada Public Affairs Review No. 2 (1987), 43-51. Co-editor with Elmer Rusco, Professor of Political Science, University of Nevada, Reno, a special issue on "Ethnicity and Race in Nevada," Nevada Public Affairs Review No. 2 (1987).
"A Brief History of the Chinese in Nevada," in The Chinese American Experience edited by Ginny Lim, Him Mark Lai, et al., (San Francisco, CA: The Chinese Historical Society of America and the Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco, 1984), 188-194.
"The Much Maligned Empress Dowager Tz'u-hsi," Modern Asian Studies XIII:2 (1979), 177-196.
"In the Autumn of Ch'ien Hsuan's Life: A Poet-Painter-Recluse of the Early Yuan Dynasty," Halcyon I
(Spring 1979), 17-30.
"From Fu Manchu, Evil Genius, to James Lee Wong, Popular Hero: The Chinese in American Popular Magazines, 1920-1940," Journal of Popular Culture X:3 (Winter 1976), 534-547.
"The Image of the Empress Dowager Tz'u-hsi," in Reform in Nineteenth Century China edited by Paul Cohen and John Schrecker, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1976), 101-110.
RECENT BOOK REVIEWS AND ENCYCLOPEDIA, ETC. ENTRIES
Entry on Cixi, Empress Dowager, for the Encyclopedia of Women in World History, Oxford
University Press, 2006.
Review of textbooks on modern East Asia; most recently, one for Prentice Hall (2005).
Abstractor for America: History and Life (online) of Chinese America and Journal of Asian American Studies for ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, 1994-present.
Board of Editors, Asian American History and Culture, M.E. Sharpe, forthcoming.
Review of Judy Wu, Doctor Mom Chung of the Fair-Haired Bastards, Western Historical Quarterly, forthcoming in Summer 2006.
Review of Linda Trinh Vo et al., Asian American Women, Pacific Historical Review, forthcoming in 2005.
Review of Anthony Lee, Picturing Chinatown: Art and Orientalism in San Francisco, Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 45:2 (Summer 2002), 119-120.
Review of Peter H. Lindert, Shifting Ground: The Changing Agricultural Soils of China and
Indonesia, Agricultural History 75:4 (Fall 2001), 533-535.
Review of Yong Chen, Chinese San Francisco, 1850-1943, Western Historical Quarterly 32:2 (Summer 2001), 234-235.
Review of Lynn Pan, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas, Immigrants & Minorities 19:3 (Novemeber 2000), 104-105.
Review Essay, “Perilous Passage: Recent Legal and Illegal Chinese American Immigrants,” (Benson Tong’s The Chinese Americans and Ko-lin Chin’s Smuggled Chinese: Clandestine
Immigration to the United States), Journal of American Ethnic History 20:l (Fall 2000), 82-84.
“Island Mountain or Gold Creek’s Chinatown, Elko County, Nevada” In-Situ: Newsletter of the
Nevada Archaeological Association (Winter 2000), 7-10. (refereed by archaeologists)
“Chinese American Citizens Alliance,” and “Organization of Chinese Americans,” in Civil Rights in the United States, edited by Waldo E. Martin, et al., New York: Macmillan Press, 2000.
Review of Guang Tian, Chinese-Canadians, Canadian-Chinese: Coping and Adapting in North
America, China Information 14:1 (2000), 243-244.
Review of Judy Yung, Unbound Voices: A Documentary History of Chinese Women in San Francisco, California History LXXIX:3 (Fall 2000), 129.
And numerous other reviews.
Five entries for the Asian American Encyclopedia, edited by Franklin Ng, (Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 1994).
RECENT PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Consultant, “Chinese on the Comstock,” exhibit for the Fourth Ward School Museum, Virginia City, NV, Summer 2005.
Member, Museum and History Board, State of Nevada, 2002- present (Governor’s appointment).
Board of Advisors and Diversity Council, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2000-present:
Served on 2001 Honor Awards Committee; Angel Island, Bok Kai Temple and Locke, California projects; drafting a Chinese American Heritage Tour program; National
Historic Landmarks nomination of Kam Wah Chung Company, John Day, OR.
Founding Board, Preserve Nevada (a statewide preservation organization), 2001-present.
Advisor, UNLV Nevada Women’s Archives, 2000-present.
Travel Award Committee, Immigration Historical Society, 2002-2003.
Chair, Book Award in History Committee, Association for Asian American Studies, 2000-2001.
Consultant, “The Red House: A Historical Property in Cambria,” for Greenspace, 2001.
Consultant, U.S. Forest Service Project on Island Mountain, Summers, 1999- 2001, on Spooner Summit, Summer 2002, and on Verdi, Summer 2003.
Book manuscript reviewer for authors.
Book manuscript reviewer for Rutgers University Press, 2001 & 2004, University of Illinois Press 1993-present, University of Washington Press, 1993, HarperCollins, 1993- 1997, Macmillan Press, and others.
National Endowment for the Humanities, grant reviewer, 1975-present. Panel Reviewer in Washington, DC, 1992, 1994, 1997.
UNLV Study Tour Leader to China, Japan, Taiwan; Represented Governor Mike O'Callaghan in Taiwan, 1977.
MEDIA
Executive Producer, "Island Mountain Days: Discovering Nevada's Chinese Miners," an educational film made by KLVX-Channel 10 PBS, aired July 21, 2004 in Las Vegas and nationally beginning in 2005.
Consultant and Featured Interviewee, "Tireless and Unremitting: The Chinese and the Building of the Railroads in Nevada," produced by Gwen Clancy for the Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs, 2003.
Consultant and Interviewee, “Turning of the Year” – Chinese New Year’s, a film for the Clark County Parks and Recreation, 2001-2002, aired locally March 2002; aired on PBS nationally 2002.
Consultant and Interviewee, “American Experience: The Transcontinental Railroad,” for WGBH 2001, aired beginning 2003 on PBS nationally.
Consultant and Interviewee, National Geographic “Mummy Road Show: Mummy in Vegas,” aired October, 2001 and thereafter nationally.
Consultant, Bill Moyer’s “On Becoming American,” 2001, for PBS nationally 2003.
Consultant, “On Gold Mountain,” 2-hour PBS film series, in production.
Consultant, PBS KLVX-TV Channel 10 in Las Vegas, “Daughter of Taiwan,” 2000-2001, aired May 2001.
Consultant, BBC television production on “Overseas Chinese,” 1998-1999, aired internationally 1999.
RECENT MUSEUM EXHIBITS
Consultant, Nevada State Railroad Museum, “Tireless and Unremitting: Chinese Railroad Workers in Nevada," 2003-2005.
Advisor, “The Good Earth,” Lied Discovery Children’s Museum, training programs, 2001.
Advisor, “On Gold Mountain,” Autry Museum, Los Angeles, CA from July 2000 to January 2001, then Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D.C., May-December 2001. This involved contributing artifacts and photographs for the exhibit and working with the fund-raising and future planning committees.
Historical Curator, “Beyond Gum San: A History of the Chinese in Nevada,” exhibit at the
Northeastern Nevada Museum, Elko, NV from April 1999 through March 2000. This is a revised version of the original exhibit with a more northeastern Nevada focus.
Consultant, Chinasaurus Exhibition, Chinatown Mall, Las Vegas, NV, 1997-1998. (I wrote most of the descriptions for the exhibit based on Chinese and American research on dinosaurs.)

Historical Curator, "Beyond Gum San: A History of the Chinese in Nevada," exhibit at the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, Las Vegas, May 1996-May 1997. This was an expanded and updated version of the earlier exhibit of the same name that opened at the Nevada State Museum, Carson City, for two years.
RECENT PAPER PRESENTATIONS/CONFERENCE PANEL CHAIRS
Chinese American Historical Society, “Island Mountain Days” and “History and Archaeology:
The Interaction of Two Disciplines;” chairing panel on Chinese American Religion, San Francisco, CA, October 2005.National Trust for Historic Preservation, “Sites Detective” and “Asian American Communities in Transition: The Chinese American Experience,” Portland, OR, September 2005.
OASIS Conference, "Preserve Nevada" and "Rock Art," Carson City, NV, April 2005.
Western History Association Conference, "The Chinese of Las Vegas," Las Vegas, NV, October 2004.
Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, organizer for 2 sessions, chair of one, Presenting at the other, "Digging Chinese American Sites: History and Archaeology," San Francisco, CA, May 2003.
OASIS Conference, "The Importance of Place in Ethnic Heritage," Carson City, NV, March 2003.
Association for Asian American Studies Annual Conference, organizer and presenter, “Gold Creek’s Chinatown: A Multi-ethnic Community in Transition,” Salt Lake City, UT, April 2002.
Boston University Conference on “Blacks and Asians: Encounters Through Time and Space,” coauthored paper with Elmer Rusco on “Gaming Nevada Style, 1940s-1950s: Black and Chinese American Interactions,” Boston, MA, March 2002.
Association for Asian American Studies Annual Conference, presenter, “Counting the Chinese: The Special 1905 Chinese Census,” Phoenix, AZ, May 2000.
West Coast Association for Asian Studies, organizer, chair, and presenter of panel on Chinese American mining communities; my paper, “In Pursuit of Gold: The Chinese Miners in Island Mountain, Nevada,” Boise, ID, September 1999.
Chinese American Studies Conference, organizer for three panels, discussant for one, presenter for another, “Between Two Worlds: The Zhigongtang and Chinese American Funerary Rituals,” San Diego, CA, July 1999.
Far Western Popular Culture Conference, organizer, chair, presenter, “Venerate These Bones,” Las Vegas, NV, February 1999.
RECENT AWARDS OR NOMINATIONS
Lions' Club Outstanding Educator Award, March 2005.
Asian Chamber of Commerce of Las Vegas, Outstanding Educator Award, February 2005.
Featured in “Wall of Women: Important Nevada Women Shaping Las Vegas,” touring exhibit, 2005.
Featured in Nevada Women, 2003.
American Association for Affirmative Action, Award for Community Service, 2001.
Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Community Achievement Award for Excellence in Education, 1999.
Distinguished Southern Nevada Women, 1999, 2001, 2002.
Distinguished Asian American in Southern Nevada, Asian Reader, January 1999.
Rita Abbey Teacher of the Year Award, UNLV College of Liberal Arts, 1998.
Outstanding Nevadan Award, Nevada Humanities Committee, October 1996.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Member of the American Historical Association, Association for Asian Studies, Organization of American Historians, Immigration History Society (member, Nominations Committee, 1995-present, Banquet Committee, 1997, Travel Award Committee, 2002-2003), Western History Association, Society for Qing Studies, Phi Alpha Theta, Association of Asian American Studies, Phi Kappa Phi, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preserve Nevada, and several others.
President-elect, Phi Kappa Phi, 1995-1996; served as Vice-President,1986-1988.