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Victor Hao Li

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Victor Hao Li (Chinese: 李浩;[1] September 17, 1941 – September 18, 2013) was an American law professor and academic administrator who served as President of the East–West Center from 1981 to 1989.[2]

Biography

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Li was born in Hong Kong on September 17, 1941.[3] His father, General Li Hanhun, was governor of Guangdong Province from 1938 to 1945 and was a Cabinet minister in the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek.[4]

Li came to the United States in 1947 and graduated from White Plains High School in White Plains, New York in 1957. His family operated a restaurant, China Gardens, in the town.[4] In 1957, he became a naturalized American citizen.[5]

In 1961, Li received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Columbia College.[5] He then received a J.D. from Columbia Law School, a LL.M. in 1965, and a S.J.D. in 1972, both from Harvard Law School.[6]

From 1964 to 1969, Li was visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law School, and assistant professor at Columbia Law School from 1969 to 1972 before he was made associate professor from 1972 to 1974.

From 1974 to 1981, Li was the Lewis Talbot and Nadine Hearn Shelton Professor of International Legal Studies at Stanford Law School and was known as the Boy Professor because he was younger than some of the students he taught.[7] He was also the first ethnic Chinese law professor in America.[8] Internationally he became known for his research and writing on China's legal system and has been a consultant to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.[9][10]

From 1981 to 1990, Li was President of the East-West Center in Honolulu,[11] dedicated to promoting understanding between the United States and Asia-Pacific nations through cooperative study, training, and research.[12] In 1983, he was invited as the commencement speaker of California State University, Dominguez Hills.[13]

In 1984, Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang made Hawaii his first stop on his official visit to the United States after Li flew to China and extended him a personal invitation.[12] When asked why Hawaii should be the first stop on his state visit, Li replied that "China always has made it a very important point to deal not only with the American government, but also the American people. Come to Hawaii. We are the American people."[12][14] He also secured visits to the center by Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, Akihito, then the Crown Prince of Japan, and Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda of Thailand.[12] As president of the research center, Li was instrumental in shaping the United States's relations with China.[15]

After stepping down from the center, he co-founded Asia Pacific Consulting Group of the law firm Watanabe Ing & Kawashima with former Hawaii governor George Ariyoshi, helping American companies set up operations in China while Ariyoshi did so in Japan.[16][17]

Li also served as a director of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Grumman Corporation,[9] American Savings Bank,[18] and AEL China Generating Company.[19]

Li was married to Arlene Lum,[20] former publisher of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and had three children with Lum. He died on September 18, 2013, in Oakland, California at the age of 72.[2] Li also has a brother, Harvard professor Frederick Pei Li, famous for the discovery of the Li–Fraumeni syndrome.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b 中時新聞網. "華府看天下－軍人之子 學術巨人 - 時論廣場". 中時新聞網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  2. ^ a b "Former EWC President Victor Li Passes Away". www.eastwestcenter.org. 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  3. ^ Cordova, Dorothy C. L.; Fugita, Stephen S.; Chuong, Chung H.; Kim, Robert H. Hyung Chan; Ng, Franklin; Singh, Jane (1999). Distinguished Asian Americans: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-28902-6.
  4. ^ a b Trumbull, Robert (1985-08-18). "EDUCATION ABROAD; AN EAST-WEST 'CATALYST' CAMPUS". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  5. ^ a b "Culture, science and education". Taiwan Today. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan). 1981-05-01. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  6. ^ "Obituaries". Columbia College Today. Winter 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  7. ^ "A Tribute to Dr. Victor Hao Li". shinsato. 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  8. ^ Olander, Eric Claude (30 July 2016). "The Honeymoon Between China and Africa Is Over and That's a Good Thing". The China Africa Project. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  9. ^ a b Feldman, Jonathan (1989). Universities in the Business of Repression: The Academic-military-industrial Complex and Central America. South End Press. ISBN 978-0-89608-354-7.
  10. ^ Gregor, A. James (1981). "Review of The Future of Taiwan: A Difference of Opinion.; Growth with Equity: The Taiwan Case". The Journal of Asian Studies. 40 (2): 355–357. doi:10.2307/2054883. ISSN 0021-9118. JSTOR 2054883.
  11. ^ Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. United States Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies. 1982.
  12. ^ a b c d "Victor Li". www.eastwestcenter.org. 2011-04-07. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  13. ^ "Commencement speaker at 1983 graduation". Calisphere. 11 June 1983. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  14. ^ "A MISSION THAT CONTINUES - Building bridges between the East and the West". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  15. ^ Bernardo, Rosemarie (2013-09-21). "East-West Center president helped shape relations with China, Taiwan". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  16. ^ "Victor Hao Li, former East-West Center president, dies". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 2013-09-20. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  17. ^ "Hirono Statement on the Passing of Dr. Victor Hao Li | Mazie K. Hirono – A Voice for Hawai'i in the U.S. Senate". www.hirono.senate.gov. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  18. ^ "Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. Announces Changes to Boards Of Directors". www.hei.com. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  19. ^ "BSI Corporation's Management and Advisory Team". www.bsicorp.net. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  20. ^ "Honolulu Star-Bulletin - Ben Wood". archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
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