List of Asian Americans

Summary

Notable Asian Americans include:

Academia edit

Science edit

 
Steven Chu

Arts/architecture/design edit

Business and industry edit

 
Indra Nooyi

Entertainment edit

Actors and filmmakers edit

 
Aziz Ansari
 
Dante Basco
 
John Cho
 
James Hong
 
Kelly Hu
 
Ken Jeong
 
Mindy Kaling
 
Nancy Kwan
 
Bruce Lee
 
Will Yun Lee
 
Ken Leung
 
Justin Lin
 
Lucy Liu
 
Pat Morita
 
Kumail Nanjiani
 
Sandra Oh
 
Keanu Reeves
 
Rob Schneider
 
Brenda Song
 
George Takei
 
Steven Yeun

Choreographers and dancers edit

Music edit

 
Paul Anka
 
Joe Hahn
 
Norah Jones
 
Bruno Mars
 
Allan Pineda
 
Mike Shinoda


Groups/bands edit

Reality TV participants edit

Fashion edit

Culinary edit

  • David Chang, founder of the Momofuku restaurant group and in multiple television shows
  • Joyce Chen, popularized northern-style Chinese cuisine in the United States
  • Cecilia Chiang (江孫芸), founder of the Mandarin Restaurant. Chiang's son, Philip Chiang, is the co-founder of restaurant chain P. F. Chang's China Bistro
  • Roy Choi, creator of the gourmet Korean taco truck, Kogi
  • Cristeta Comerford, White House Executive Chef, won with Bobby Flay in an Iron Chef America challenge
  • Soleil Ho, chef, food writer, host of podcast "The Racist Sandwich", and restaurant critic
  • Eddie Huang, chef and author of Fresh Off the Boat
  • Madhur Jaffrey, James Beard award-winning food and travel writer, and television personality
  • Padma Lakshmi, cookbook author and host of Top Chef and Host of "Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi"
  • Francis Lam, host of The Splendid Table and food journalist
  • Lynja, chef behind "Cooking with Lynja" YouTube channel
  • Emily Kim, creator and host of popular YouTube channel Maangchi, teaching Korean cooking
  • Melissa Miranda, James Beard Award semifinalist chef of Filipino restaurant Musang in Seattle
  • Niki Nakayama, chef and owner of Michelin-starred n/naka restaurant
  • Mutsuko Soma, James Beard Award semifinalist chef specializing in handmade soba, owner of Kamonegi in Seattle
  • Jet Tila, celebrity chef and restaurateur and guest on “Cutthroat Kitchen”
  • Roy Yamaguchi, owner of Roy's Restaurants
  • Martin Yan, chef and food writer, hosted his award-winning PBS-TV cooking show Yan Can Cook since 1982
  • Jennifer Yee, award-winning, James Beard, nominated pastry chef
  • Molly Yeh, cookbook author and blogger

Law edit

 
Lance Ito
 
Fred Korematsu

Literature edit

Military edit

Individuals edit

 
Eric Shinseki

Foreign military service edit

News/media/journalism edit

Politics edit

 
Daniel Akaka
 
Tammy Duckworth
 
Nikki Haley
 
Kamala Harris
 
Daniel Inouye
 
Bobby Jindal
 
Andrew Yang

Religion edit

 
Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl

Space edit

This section is a list of astronauts of Asian ancestry who are, by birth or naturalization, American citizens. Sorted by first space flight, then by NASA Astronaut Group (if applicable).

No. Image Name
Birth date
Ancestry Birth Comment Missions (Launch date)
1   Ellison Onizuka
June 24, 1946
  Japan   United States Selected in 1978 to NASA Astronaut Group 8. First Asian American and first Japanese American in space. Died on the Challenger. STS-51-C (January 24, 1985)
STS-51-L (January 28, 1986)
2   Taylor Gun-Jin Wang
June 16, 1940
  Republic of China First person of Chinese ancestry and first Chinese American in space. STS-51-B (April 29, 1985)
3   Franklin Chang-Diaz
April 5, 1950
  Qing dynasty   Costa Rica   Costa Rica Selected in 1980 to NASA Astronaut Group 9. Joint record holder, since 2002 (with Jerry L. Ross, set two months earlier that year), for most spaceflights by a human. STS-61-C (January 12, 1986)
STS-34 (October 18, 1989)
STS-46 (July 31, 1992)
STS-60 (February 3, 1994)
STS-75 (February 22, 1996)
STS-91 (June 2, 1998)
STS-111 (June 5, 2002)
4   Eugene Trinh
September 14, 1950
  South Vietnam First Vietnamese American in space. STS-50 (June 25, 1992)
5   Leroy Chiao
August 28, 1960
  Taiwan   United States Selected in 1990 to NASA Astronaut Group 13. Served on ISS Expedition 10. STS-65 (July 8, 1994)
STS-72 (January 11, 1996)
STS-92 (October 11, 2000)
Soyuz TMA-5 (October 14, 2004)
6   Ed Lu
July 1, 1963
  United States Selected in 1994 to NASA Astronaut Group 15. Served on ISS Expedition 7. STS-84 (May 15, 1997)
STS-106 (September 8, 2000)
Soyuz TMA-2 (April 6, 2003)
7   Kalpana Chawla
March 17, 1962
  India Selected in 1994 to NASA Astronaut Group 15. First Indian American in space. Died on the Columbia. STS-87 (November 19, 1997)
STS-107 (January 16, 2003)
8   Mark L. Polansky
June 2, 1956
  Republic of Korea   United States Selected in 1996 to NASA Astronaut Group 16. First Korean American in space. STS-98 (February 7, 2001)
STS-116 (December 9, 2006)
STS-127 (July 15, 2009)
9   Daniel M. Tani
February 1, 1961
  Japan   United States Selected in 1996 to NASA Astronaut Group 16. Served on ISS Expedition 16. STS-108 (December 5, 2001)
STS-120 (October 23, 2007)
STS-122 (February 7, 2008)
10   Sunita Williams
September 19, 1965
  India   United States Selected in 1998 to NASA Astronaut Group 17. Served on ISS Expedition 14/15 and Expedition 32/33. Second female commander of ISS. STS-116/117 (December 9, 2006)
Soyuz TMA-05M (July 15, 2012)
11   Kjell N. Lindgren
January 23, 1973
  Taiwan
  United States
  Taiwan Selected in 2009 to NASA Astronaut Group 20. Served on ISS Expedition 44. Soyuz TMA-17M (July 22, 2015)
SpaceX Crew-4 (April 27, 2022)
12 Sirisha Bandla
1988
  India Indian American sub-orbital, sub-Kármán line, space tourist. Virgin Galactic Unity 22 (July 11, 2021)
13   Raja Chari
June 24, 1977
  India   United States Selected in 2017 to NASA Astronaut Group 22. SpaceX Crew-3 (November 11, 2021)
14   Jonny Kim
February 5, 1984
  Republic of Korea   United States Selected in 2017 to NASA Astronaut Group 22.

Sports edit

Other edit

See also edit

Footnotes edit

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  43. ^ Pimentel, Joseph (December 21, 2008). "Raymond Townsend – First Pinoy NBA Player". Asian Journal. Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved April 19, 2009. WHEN legendary National Basketball Association (NBA) coach Pat Riley announced Fil-Am Eric Spoelstra to coach the Miami Heat, Spoelstra became the first person with Filipino and Asian heritage to coach in the NBA.