| May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month; it is a time to celebrate and reflect on the accomplishments of our Asian-Pacific American colleagues. The official recognition of Asian-Pacific Americans began in 1978 when President Jimmy Carter signed a joint congressional resolution designating a weeklong observance in early May. The specific timing was to commemorate the immigration of the first Asian Americans to the U.S. on May 7, 1843, and the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Asian immigrants. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed a bill expanding the observance to the whole month of May, and two years later Congress officially designated May as the month for the annual event.
Since the first Asian American earned a J.D. from the Law Center in 1969, enrollment of students with Asian-Pacific American heritage has grown to nearly 10 percent of the class with successful graduates in every field of law. These alumni are active supporters of their alma mater while other Asian-Pacific Americans share their legal expertise in Law Center classrooms and serve as valued members of the Law Center’s professional staff.
This Dean’s Note lists some of the milestones and accomplishments of the Law Center’s Asian-Pacific American alumni, faculty, and professional staff.
Pioneering Graduates
- William Y. Sim ’69: UHLC’s first Asian American law graduate
- Rehan Alimohammad, ’01: Partner, Wong Fleming LLP; first Asian American and first Immigration attorney to serve as chair of the board for the State Bar of Texas
Judges
- Wendy Duong, ’84: Associate municipal judge for the city of Houston and magistrate of the State of Texas; First Vietnamese American judge in the United States
- Ravi K. Sandill, ’01: Judge of the 127th Civil District Court in Harris County; first district court judge in Texas of Indian American or South Asian descent
- Frances Bourliot, ’07: First Asian American woman to be elected and serve on the appellate court in Texas
Politicians
- Eni F. H. Faleomavaega, ’72: The second delegate from American Samoa to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives
- Nandita Berry, ’95: Former Texas Secretary of State; first Indian American to serve as Secretary of State in the U.S.; former member of the UH System Board of Regents
Faculty
- Bryan Liang, MD, PhD, JD: UHLC’s First Asian American male professor to receive tenure and a named professorship
- Sapna Kumar, Law Foundation Professor of Law; co-director, Institute for Intellectual Property and Information Law; Fulbright-Schuman Innovation Grant Recipient, Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program; UHLC’s First Asian American woman professor to receive tenure, full professorship, and a named professorship
- David Kwok: Assistant Professor of Law
Administration
- Tommy Abraham: Director, Information Technology
- Cassandra Jeu, ’04: Legal Clinical Supervisor; director, University of Houston Innocence Project
- MyBao Nguyen: Executive Director, Business Operations, Law Business Services and Administration; UHLC’s first Vietnamese American executive director of Business Services
- Helen Wang: Assistant Director, Law Foundation
- Michelle M. Wu: Professor of Law, Director of the Law Library, Georgetown University; UHLC’s First Asian American Acting Librarian, oversaw the disaster recovery process following Tropical Storm Allison
Corporate and Legal Leaders
- Muhammad S. Aziz, ’04: Partner, Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Aziz
- Alison L. Chen, ’03: Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
- Fermeen Fazal, ’00: Vice President, Chief Counsel, Universal Pegasus International
- Xiaobing Feng, ’05: General Counsel of ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co., Ltd.
- Yvonne Ho, ’06: Partner, Bracewell LLP; first Asian American Law Center Gala chair
- Judy Lee, ’80: Partner, Foster LLP
- Tam Huynh “Tom” Nguyen, ’06: President, Belryn LLC
- Amy Springs, ’06: Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel Legal and Compliance, EIG
- Russell Wong, ’85: Partner, Blank Rome LLP
Whether at the Law Center or in the legal world, Asian-Pacific Americans have had a tremendous impact on the legal profession. This month’s observance is a time to acknowledge the contributions made, and look forward to those yet to come.
Please see the attached PowerPoint slide show for other accomplished UHLC Asian-Pacific Americans. This is but a start of the school’s project to collect stories and highlight the accomplishments of all our graduates no matter their background. If you know others who should be part of the slideshow, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Leonard M. Baynes
Dean & Professor of Law
University of Houston Law Center
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