thomas tam – Page 2 – Asian American / Asian Research Institute

AAARI 20th Annual Gala (2022)

June 26, 2025June 29, 2022 By AAARI

AAARI celebrated its 20th anniversary as part of CUNY, and honored leaders and CUNY alumni, Joyce Moy (former Executive Director of AAARI), Hon. John C. Liu (NYS Senate, Queens 11th District) and Ms. Naheed Samadi Bahram (US Country Director for Women for Afghan Women; Queens College alumnae), as well as student award recipients for the CUNY Thomas Tam Scholarship (Vikii Wong, CUNY School of Professional Studies) and Chynn-CUNY Essay and Morality Essay Contest.

CUNY Thomas Tam Scholarship 2022 Recipient

March 27, 2025May 19, 2022 By AAARI

Kaitlyn Chan, a sophomore at Brooklyn College double-majoring in biology and psychology, interviewed AAPI activists and supporters about the actions that they were taking to combat the recent rise in anti-Asian hate; their experiences with discrimination, racism, and prejudice in school and the workplace; and their thoughts on the lack of Asian American representation in politics and media.

CUNY Thomas Tam Scholarship 2021 Recipient

June 8, 2022August 18, 2021 By AAARI

Ms. Vikii Wong, a Communications and Media major, is in the early stages of researching on the Stop Asian Hate movement, based on a class paper. Vikii will gather qualitative and quantitative data on the status of Asian hate crimes, including the recent spa shootings in Atlanta, Georgia on March 16, 2021. She plans to raise awareness by learning about the current state of Asian hate in the United States, and perhaps Canada—as Vancouver has a large Asian population.

CUNY Thomas Tam Scholarship 2020 Recipient

May 19, 2022June 26, 2020 By AAARI

Ms. Gina Gao, a Hospitality Management major at New York City College of Technology, was an intern and employee at Turnstile Tours, hosting tours and virtual programs across New York City. Before arriving to the United States in 2012, Gina obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from Hubei University in China, and worked for seven years as a tour guide and itinerary planner. Due to the downturn of the tourism industry in 2020, Gina shifted careers and became a New York City police officer in order to serve the community.

AAARI 18th Annual Gala (2019)

December 8, 2025November 14, 2019 By AAARI

AAARI celebrated its 18th anniversary as part of CUNY, and honored leaders and CUNY alumni, Hon. Yuh-Line Niou (NYS Assembly, Manhattan 65th District) and Ms. June Jee (strategic partnership consultant & City College of NY alumna), as well as students award recipients for the CUNY Thomas Tam Scholarship (Biling Chen, Queensborough Community College) and Chynn-CUNY Essay and Morality Essay Contest.

2019-2020 CUNY Thomas Tam Visiting Professor

October 30, 2019August 31, 2019 By Hung Cam Thai

Hung Cam Thai is professor of sociology and Asian American studies at Pomona College, where he is former chair of Asian American studies, former director of the Pacific Basin Institute, and former chair of sociology. Prof. Thai is the 2019-2020 CUNY Thomas Tam Visiting Professor at the CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College/CUNY. He received a sociology Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Prof. Thai’s first book, For Better or for Worse: Vietnamese International Marriages in the New Global Economy (Rutgers, 2008), is a study of international marriages linking women in Vietnam and overseas Vietnamese men living in the diaspora. His second book, Insufficient Funds: The Culture of Money in Low Wage Transnational Families (Stanford, 2014), won the American Sociological Association’s 2015 Best Book Award on Asia from the Asia/Asian America Section, and the 2016 Best Social Sciences Book Award from the Association for Asian American Studies. Insufficient Funds examines how and why transnational families in the Vietnamese diaspora spend, receive, and give money.