Thomas Tam

Dr. Thomas Tam was born on April 15, 1946 in Fujian, China, during the Chinese Civil War. He spent his childhood in Hong Kong where his parents had to rebuild their home from the ground up. Dr. Tam and his family immigrated to New York in 1964. He received BA in physics from City College of New York (1968), M.A. in film-making from Montclair State University (1978), M.P.H. from Columbia University School of Public Health (1980); and Ph.D. in SocioMedical Sciences from Columbia University (1983). He is Chairman of the Asian American Higher Education Council, and Executive Director of Asian American/Asian Research Institute, as well as the President of Oishi Movies, Inc. which produced a feature: Sunrise on Mulberry Street.

After graduating from City College of New York, Tam developed an active interest in community improvement in Chinatown, when he initiated a ten-day health fair which screened two thousand five hundred residents, leading to the establishment of Chinatown Health Clinic, now known as the Charles B. Wang Health Center. Tam’s career in community health continued when he became administrators of various City-wide health agencies. He taught at Columbia University, Herbert Lehman College, and St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

In 1989, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York as the first Chinese American member. Dr. Tam worked with a group of faculty members to establish the Asian American Higher Education Council, an organization which addresses critical issues concerning higher education in the Asian American community. Under Tam’s leadership, this organization has successfully organized numerous conferences and the creation of the Asian American / Asian Research Institute (AAARI), where he served as Executive Director from 2001 to 2006.

In addition to his contribution to the fields of community health and higher education, Dr. Tam also has an abiding interest in movie making, an avocation which he has nurtured since college. He has produced many short movies which have been exhibited at various institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art. Tam has also founded the Asian American Film Festival in 1972, which became Asian Cine Vision, an organization with international recognition for showcasing movies from Asian/Asian American artists. Dr. Tam is a recent convert to Buddhism and has completed a documentary video, En Route to Lhasa.

Dr. Tam is survived by his wife Margaret, his daughter Anika, and step-children Emily and Victor.

Experimental Workshop Series on Asian Civilizations: Introductory Exploration of the Chinese Mind

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This event offers an introductory exploration of the Chinese mind by examining major schools of thought such as Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and their enduring influence through China’s long history. Facilitators will guide discussions based on key texts, including works by Confucius, Mencius, and Taoist philosophers, to provide a deeper understanding of Chinese philosophical traditions.

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Conversation on American Relief in South Asia

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At the suggestion of Executive Vice Chancellor Selma Botman, AAARI was invited to participate in the CUNY’s response to the tsunami disaster that struck South Asia. As different experts from CUNY are beginning the brainstorming process to generate a relevant and comprehensive plan to help rebuild the region, AAARI is taking the initiative to reach … Read more

An Evening of Tibet: En Route to Lhasa & A Village on Qinghai

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En Route To Lhasa – In 2000, a group of Chinese American Buddhists participated in a pilgrimage to Nepal and Tibet. They crossed the Himalaya and visited many rarely seen temples and caves where famous Buddhist practitioners stayed. The video is a montage of this memorable journey, to a place where his holiness, the Dalai … Read more

Introduction to Yogacara Buddhism: Asanga, Vasubandhu and Hsuan-Tsang

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Hsuan Tsang, the famous Chinese monk from the Tang dynasty, traveled from China to India to learn Yogacara Buddhism. He crossed deserts, mountains, rivers and spent eighteen years before his triumphant return to his country and began the daunting task of translating the sutras and commentaries that he brought back. One of the most important … Read more

Reminiscences: A Collection of Movies

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Join Tom Tam in an evening about the joy of making movies.  This collection of reminiscences recalls the innocence of youth, and its exuberant outbursts, from a demonstration against tourist buses in Chinatown to some interesting experimentation of personal cinema. Movies shown: Chi (5 min. silent) – Contemplation of patterns on a “go” board.  Something along the line of … Read more