Yong Chen
Professor, History
School of Humanities
School of Humanities
PH.D., Cornell University, 1993
University of California, Irvine
253 Krieger Hall
Mail Code: 3275
Irvine, CA 92697
253 Krieger Hall
Mail Code: 3275
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Food, US-China economic and cultural interactions, Asian-American history, American Immigration History.
Research Abstract
Yong Chen received his Ph.D. degree from Cornell University. He is professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, where he also serves as Associate Dean of Curricular and Student Services in the School of Humanities.
He is author of Chop Suey, USA: The Rise of Chinese Food in America (Columbia University Press, 2014), which received honorable mention in the 2015 PROSE Awards in the category of American History. Chinese San Francisco 1850-1943: A Transpacific Community (Stanford, 2000); and The Chinese in San Francisco (in Chinese) (Peking University Press, 2009). He co-edited New Perspectives on American History (in Chinese and English) (Hebei People’s Publishing House, 2010).
He was a contributor to Civil Rights in America: A Framework for Identifying Significant Sites for the National Park Service, authorized and funded by the U.S. Congress.
He co-curated a museum exhibit on the history of Chinese restaurants in the U.S. in the Museum of Chinese in the Americas in New York City (Sept 2004-June 2005) and Atwater Kent Museum, Philadelphia (April - September 2006), an exhibit that has received extensive coverage in the press, including the New York Times.
As co-PI, he has received a 2-year planning grant ($120,000) from the National Historical Publications & Records Commission for a digital project on the histories of Asian communities in Ohio in 2024--26. As PI, he received a $25,000 grant from the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, for another food project.
He served on the National Park System Advisory Board National Historic Landmarks Committee 2014-2018.
He is co-editor-in-chief of Singapore-based Journal of Chinese Overseas.
His research on diverse topics such as Chinese American history, U.S. ethnic food, and higher education has also received much public attention, internationally. He has been frequently interviewed by various media organizations, including radio stations such as National Public Radio and Radio France Internationale, TV corporations such as ETTV of Taiwan, and newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, Sing Tao Daily, and Correio Braziliense, in four languages.
To share his longstanding and extensive research on contemporary Sino-American economic and cultural interactions, he has given public lectures at business schools in the U.S. and China and worked with numerous transnational corporations, such as IFC of the World Bank and Haier.
His research on food in American culture has received broad recognition. He has been invited to give lectures across the U.S. and China and in Germany, by professional organizations such as the International of Association of Culinary Professionals and universities such as Yale University. His food research has been featured in such periodicals as The Chronicle of Higher Education and the Orange County Register, U.S. News and World Report, Los Angeles Times, St. Louis Riverfront Times, Saveur, Bloomberg, and New York Times.
He is author of Chop Suey, USA: The Rise of Chinese Food in America (Columbia University Press, 2014), which received honorable mention in the 2015 PROSE Awards in the category of American History. Chinese San Francisco 1850-1943: A Transpacific Community (Stanford, 2000); and The Chinese in San Francisco (in Chinese) (Peking University Press, 2009). He co-edited New Perspectives on American History (in Chinese and English) (Hebei People’s Publishing House, 2010).
He was a contributor to Civil Rights in America: A Framework for Identifying Significant Sites for the National Park Service, authorized and funded by the U.S. Congress.
He co-curated a museum exhibit on the history of Chinese restaurants in the U.S. in the Museum of Chinese in the Americas in New York City (Sept 2004-June 2005) and Atwater Kent Museum, Philadelphia (April - September 2006), an exhibit that has received extensive coverage in the press, including the New York Times.
As co-PI, he has received a 2-year planning grant ($120,000) from the National Historical Publications & Records Commission for a digital project on the histories of Asian communities in Ohio in 2024--26. As PI, he received a $25,000 grant from the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, for another food project.
He served on the National Park System Advisory Board National Historic Landmarks Committee 2014-2018.
He is co-editor-in-chief of Singapore-based Journal of Chinese Overseas.
His research on diverse topics such as Chinese American history, U.S. ethnic food, and higher education has also received much public attention, internationally. He has been frequently interviewed by various media organizations, including radio stations such as National Public Radio and Radio France Internationale, TV corporations such as ETTV of Taiwan, and newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, Sing Tao Daily, and Correio Braziliense, in four languages.
To share his longstanding and extensive research on contemporary Sino-American economic and cultural interactions, he has given public lectures at business schools in the U.S. and China and worked with numerous transnational corporations, such as IFC of the World Bank and Haier.
His research on food in American culture has received broad recognition. He has been invited to give lectures across the U.S. and China and in Germany, by professional organizations such as the International of Association of Culinary Professionals and universities such as Yale University. His food research has been featured in such periodicals as The Chronicle of Higher Education and the Orange County Register, U.S. News and World Report, Los Angeles Times, St. Louis Riverfront Times, Saveur, Bloomberg, and New York Times.
Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=2183
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=2183
Last updated
01/10/2025
01/10/2025