AP Photo/Matt Rourke 
 
 
美国驻北京使馆特此介绍15位美国名人#NotableAmericans，展现美国的丰富多元以及突显移民对我们国家的贡献。请关注我们的主题标签#EPluribusUnum和 #NotableAmericans多了解这些美国英雄。
U.S. Embassy Beijing is highlighting the achievements of fifteen #NotableAmericans, which show the rich diversity of the United States as well as highlight the contributions immigrants have made to our country.  Please follow our hashtags #EPluribusUnum and #NotableAmericans to learn more about these American heroes.
General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. 
 
小本杰明·O·戴维斯上将（1912/12/18-2002/7/4）是一名美国空军上将、曾参加二战的非洲裔美国人塔斯基吉航空兵指挥官。1932年，他进入美国纽约西点军校。在校四年期间，戴维斯因他的种族而受到班上同学的排挤，从没有室友，独自就餐。他的同学希望这会迫使他退学。但是“冷遇”产生了相反的效果，反而促使戴维斯毕业，成为西点军校的第四名黑人毕业生。在二战期间，戴维斯是第 99 战斗机中队和第 332 战斗机大队的指挥官，负责在欧洲上空护卫轰炸机执行空战任务。戴维斯执行了60次飞行任务，飞过 P-39、柯蒂斯 P-40、P-47 和 P-51 野马战斗机。他之后成为美国空军的首个黑人准将。1998年12月9日，比尔·克林顿总统晋升他为四星上将。
 
General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (12/18/1912 – 7/4/2002) was a United States Air Force general and commander of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of mainly African American airmen who fought in World War II.  He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1932.  During the four years of his Academy term, Davis was isolated by his classmates because of his race, never having a roommate and having to eat by himself.  His classmates hoped that this would push him to quit the Academy. The “silent treatment” however, had the opposite effect, pushing Davis to graduate and become the fourth black graduate of West Point.  During World War II, Davis was commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, which escorted bombers on air combat missions over Europe.  Davis flew sixty missions in P-39, Curtiss P-40, P-47 and P-51 Mustang fighters.  He later became the first black brigadier general in the United States Air Force. On December 9, 1998, he was advanced to four-star general by President Bill Clinton.
Rear Admiral Chung-Hoon at the Naval Academy USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) 
葛登·派伊亚·钟云少将（7/25/1910 – 7/24/1979）是美国海军少将，二战期间曾担任海军军官，是第一位亚裔美国人将官。将官经授权可悬挂自己的指挥旗——代表美国武装部队的分支。钟云曾就读于美国海军学院并于1934年5月毕业，成为该学院第一位亚裔美国人、美国公民毕业生。1944年5月至1945年10月，他曾担任“西格斯比”号舰长，因大无畏精神和英勇非凡的表现获颁海军十字及银星勋章。在一架神风特攻队飞机击中他的战舰、造成大火并损坏了舰只的发动机和舵机后，钟云舰长成功指挥士兵扑灭了大火并拯救了舰只，同时继续与更多的神风特攻队飞机作战。为了纪念钟云少将，美国海军DDG93导弹驱逐舰以他的名字命名，这是迄今唯一一艘以华裔美国人名字命名的美国海军舰艇。
 
Rear Admiral Gordon Paiʻea Chung-Hoon (7/25/1910 – 7/24/1979) was an admiral in the United States Navy,who served during World War II and was the first Asian American flag officer.  A flag officer is someone who is authorized to fly their own command flags – representing the branches of the United States Armed Forces.  Chung-Hoon attended the United States Naval Academy and graduated in May 1934, becoming the first Asian American, U.S. citizen graduate of the academy.  He received the Navy Cross and Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary heroism as the commanding officer of the USS Sigsbee from May 1944 to October 1945.  After his ship was struck by a kamikaze plane, causing massive fires and damage to the ships engines and steering, Commander Chung-Hoon successfully directed his men in putting out the fires and saving the ship while continuing to fight more kamikaze planes.  In his honor, the US Navy DDG 93 guided missile destroyer was named after him, the only US Navy ship ever named after a Chinese-American.
Patsy Mink Formation of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus 
帕齐·马祖·明克（1927年12月6日- 2002年9月28日）是当选国会议员的第一位夏威夷女性和第一位有色人种女性。帕齐是第三代日裔美国人，出生在夏威夷毛伊岛帕亚的一个蔗糖种植园。因身为女性而被12所医学院拒绝后，帕齐·明克最终被芝加哥大学录取攻读法律学位。在夏威夷建州之前，明克成为首位在夏威夷领土立法机构任职的日本血统女性。1959年夏威夷成为美国第50个州后，明克在1965年赢得了美国众议院的席位，并在那里连续担任了六届议员。随后，她在卡特政府的国务院海洋和国际环境与科学事务局担任助理国务卿。之后，帕齐重回众议院，于1990年至2002年那里任职。1994年，她参与创立了国会亚太裔美国人核心小组，该小组致力于推动亚裔美国人和太平洋岛民问题。
 
Patsy Matsu Mink (12/6/1927 – 9/28/2002) was the first Hawaiian woman and first woman of color elected to Congress.  Patsy was a third-generation Japanese American, born on a sugar plantation camp in Paia, Hawaii, on the island of Maui.  After being rejected by 12 medical schools for being a woman, Patsy Mink pursued a law degree at the University of Chicago.  Before Hawaii became a state, Mink became the first woman with Japanese ancestry to serve in the Hawaiian Territorial Legislature.  After Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959, in 1965, Mink won a post in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served six consecutive terms.  She then served as Assistant Secretary of State in the Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs under the Carter administration.  Following that, Patsy returned to the House of Representatives where she served from 1990 to 2002.  In 1994 she co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, which seeks to promote Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) issues.
Dalip Singh Saund Dalip Singh Saund with VOA India 
达利普·辛格·桑德(1899年9月20日- 1973年4月22日)是第一位当选为国会议员的亚裔美国人、印度裔美国人和印度教徒。达利普1899年出生于印度，最初来到美国学习农业，但最终获得了加州伯克利大学的数学硕士和博士学位。在大萧条时期，他搬到了南加州，在那里务农20多年，直到20世纪50年代初，开始自己的化肥生意。尽管他在政治上很活跃，但由于联邦法律禁止他成为美国公民，他无法竞选政治职位。在成功地为南亚人争取到入籍公民的权利后，他于1949年入籍，并很快竞选当地法官。在担任了四年法官之后，他于1954年当选国会议员。
 
Dalip Singh Saund (9/20/1899 – 4/22/1973) was the first Asian American, the first Indian American, and the first Hindu to be elected to Congress.  Dalip was born in India in 1899 and came to the United States to originally study agriculture, but ultimately obtained a master’s degree and a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Berkeley, California.  He moved to Southern California during the Great Depression and worked as a farmer for more than 20 years before starting his own fertilizer business in the early 1950s.  Though he became politically active, Saund wasn’t able to run for political office because federal law prevented him from becoming a U.S. citizen.  After successfully campaigning for the right of South Asians to become naturalized citizens, he naturalized in 1949 and soon ran for office as a local judge.  He served four years as a judge before being elected to Congress in 1954.
Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu Dr. Wu in Columbia University 
吴健雄（1912年5月31日-1997年2月16日）被称为“物理科学第一夫人”和“中国的居里夫人” 。在她漫长的职业生涯中，吴健雄为物理科学做出了举足轻重的贡献。她出生于中国江苏，于上世纪30年代前往美国，在加州大学伯克利分校研读物理。1940年，吴健雄在伯克利获得了博士学位。1944年，吴健雄加入了哥伦比亚大学的研究团队。在哥大，她参与了“曼哈顿计划”。该计划帮助美国在二战期间研发出了原子弹。吴健雄的研究，包括“吴氏实验”，帮助她的同事获得了1957年诺贝尔物理学奖。吴健雄本人也获授1978年首次颁发的沃尔夫物理学奖。尽管成就斐然，吴健雄在她的领域依然面临性别歧视。在她的整个职业生涯中，吴健雄都在为女性科学家的同工同酬而抗争，并最终成为首位担任美国物理学会主席的女性。
 
Chien-Shiung Wu (5/31/1912 – 2/16/1997) was known as both the “First Lady of Physics” and the “Chinese Marie Curie,” making significant contributions to physics during her long career.  Chien-Shiung was born in Jiangsu, China, and moved to the United States in the 1930s to study physics at the University of California, Berkeley, where she completed her doctorate in 1940.  In 1944, Wu joined the research staff at Columbia University in 1944, where she worked on the Manhattan Project, which helped the United States develop the atomic bomb during World War II.  Her research, including the “Wu experiment”, helped colleagues receive the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics.  Wu herself received the inaugural Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978.  Despite her scientific accomplishments, Wu still faced gender discrimination in her field.  Wu fought for equal pay for women scientists throughout her career, and eventually became the first woman to serve as president of the American Physical Society.
Franklin E. Kameny Frank Kameny attending Pride 
富兰克林·爱德华·卡梅尼 (1925-2011) 是美国同性恋权利活动人士，被认为是美国民权运动中最重要的人物之一。 他出生于纽约市，在军队服役后，获得了哈佛大学天文学硕士和博士学位。1957年，他因为是同性恋而被陆军地图局解雇，导致他成为美国同性恋权利运动的早期活动人士。1965年，他在白宫前抗议美国联邦政府对LGBTQI+美国人的不公平待遇，这是第一次此类示威。他还继续为被联邦政府解雇的LGBTQI+美国人提供法律支持，他的行动主义导致比尔·克林顿总统在1995年和1998年签署了行政命令，取消了对LGBTQI+联邦雇员的安全审查禁令，并将联邦文职工作队伍中基于性取向的歧视定为非法。
 
Franklin Edward Kameny (1925-2011) was an American gay rights activist, considered one of the most significant figures in the American civil rights movement.  Born in New York City, after serving in the Army he received a master’s degree and doctorate in astronomy from Harvard University.  In 1957 he was fired from his position in the Army Map Service for being gay, leading him to become an early activist in the gay rights movement in America.  In 1965 he protested the unfair treatment of LGBTQI+ Americans by the U.S. Federal Government in front of the White House, the first demonstration of its kind.  He continued to provide legal support to LGBTQI+ Americans who were fired by the federal government, and his activism led to the signing of Executive Orders by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and 1998, which lifted the ban on security clearances for LGBTQI+ federal employees and outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal civilian workforce.
Rachel Carson working at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Rachel Carson conducting marine biology research 
雷切尔·卡森(5/27/1907 – 4/14/1964)，美国海洋生物学家、作家、保育人士，其具影响力的著作寂静的春天（1962年出版）和其他著作推进全球环保运动。来自宾西维尼亚州的一个小镇，1932年于约翰·霍普金斯大学获得硕士学位，本来打算继续攻读博士，但在大萧条期间为了养家糊口，只能中途辍学，至美国渔业局工作。她于此开始生物学家的职业生涯，直至1950年代成为自然文学作家。其广受赞誉的畅销书我们周围的海洋(The Sea Around Us)获颁美国国家图书奖(U.S. National Book Award)。寂静的春天是她的第四本著作，其研究化学杀虫剂所造成的环境问题，特别是DDT。寂静的春天对美国环保运动初期有着重大影响。该书提高杀虫剂对生态影响的环保意识，并使得DDT和其他有害杀虫剂在美国禁用。1980年，吉米·卡特(Jimmy Carter)总统向卡森追授总统自由勋章(Presidential Medal of Freedom)。
 
Rachel Carson (5/27/1907 – 4/14/1964) was an American marine biologist, author, and conservationist whose influential book Silent Spring (1962) and other writings advanced the global environmental movement.  Originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, Carson received a master’s degree from John Hopkins University in 1932 and had planned to obtain a doctorate when she paused her studies to support her family during the Great Depression by working at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries.  There she began her career as a biologist before becoming a nature writer in the 1950s.  Her widely praised bestseller The Sea Around Us won a U.S. National Book Award.  Silent Spring was her fourth book, and it studied environmental problems caused by chemical pesticides, particularly DDT.  Silent Spring had a major impact on the nascent environmental movement in the United States.  The book raised environmental awareness on the ecological impact of pesticides, and to the banning of DDT and other harmful pesticides in the United States.  In 1980, Carson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter.
Mary Jackson Mary Jackson working at NASA Langley Research Center 
玛丽·杰克逊(4/9/1921 – 2/11/2005)，美国数学家、航太工程师，她所做的工作为美国太空项目的发展做出极大贡献。身为天赋异禀的数学家，玛丽·杰克逊被招聘至国家航空咨询委员会 (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NACA)，其于1958年成为NASA。她起初在兰里纪念航空实验室(Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory)种族隔离的计算科工作，之后接受在实验室的超音速压力隧道的工作。她被推荐参加得以晋升为工程师的培训项目，但必须先完成研究院程度的数学和物理课程，当时只在一间实施种族隔离的高中开课。杰克逊得到特别许可与白人同侪一起上课，完成课程，得到晋升，在1958年成为NASA首位非裔女性工程师。她的故事搬上电影“隐藏人物”(Hidden Figures，2016年出品)。玛丽在她的职业生涯后期致力于支持妇女在NASA担任科学、工程和数学职位。2021年，NASA在华盛顿D.C.的总部更名为玛丽·W·杰克逊NASA总部(Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters)。
 
Mary Jackson (4/9/1921 – 2/11/2005) was an American mathematician and aerospace engineer whose work contributed greatly to the development of America’s space program.  A gifted mathematician, Mary Jackson was recruited to work at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which became NASA in 1958.  She worked in the segregated computing section at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory before accepting an offer to work in the laboratory’s supersonic pressure tunnel.  She was recommended to enter a training program that would allow her to become an engineer, but she needed to first complete graduate level math and physics courses which were only offered at a then-segregated high school.  Jackson got special permission to join white peers in the classroom, completed the courses, and earned the promotion, becoming NASA’s first black female engineer in 1958.  Her story features in the movie “Hidden Figures” (2016).  Later in her career Mary worked to support women in science, engineering, and mathematics positions at NASA.  In 2021, the headquarters of NASA in Washington, D.C. was renamed the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters.


萨利·克里斯汀·莱德(5/26/1951 – 7/23/2012)，美国宇航员、物理学家。出生于加州洛杉矶，于1978年加入NASA，并于1983年成为首位上太空的美国女性。她至今仍是美国最年轻上过太空的宇航员，时年32岁。完成两次挑战者号(Challenger)太空舱飞行后，她于1987年离开NASA。莱德任职于斯坦福大学国际安全和军控中心两年，之后作为物理学教授任教于加州州立大学圣地亚哥校区。生前虽曾与另一名宇航员结缡，但逝后讣闻公告她与前女性网球协会球员汤·奥肖内西(Tam O’Shaughnessy)的长期私人关系。2013年，她被追授总统自由勋章(Presidential Medal of Freedom)。现在被公认为首位LGBTQI+太空旅行者。
 
Sally Kristen Ride (5/26/1951 – 7/23/2012) was an American astronaut and physicist.  Born in Los Angeles, California, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman in space.  She remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32.  After flying twice on the Space Shuttle Challenger, she left NASA in 1987.  Ride worked for two years at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Arms Control, then at the University of California, San Diego, as a physics professor.  Previously married to another astronaut, after her death her obituary revealed she was in a private, long-term relationship with former Women’s Tennis Association player Tam O’Shaughnessy.  In 2013, she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  She is now recognized as the first LGBTQI+ space traveler.
Duke Kahanamoku Early picture of Duke surfing 
杜克·卡哈纳莫库(8/24/1890 – 1/22/1968)，昵称“大卡胡纳”，屹立于世界运动界和娱乐界的人物，其推动冲浪运动的普及。1890年出生于夏威夷火奴鲁鲁，卡哈纳莫库赢得五次奥运游泳竞赛奖牌，分别在1912斯德哥尔摩奥运会、1920安特卫普奥运会和1924巴黎奥运会进行角逐。卡哈纳莫库同时也是1932洛杉矶奥运会美国水球队后备选手。继开拓性的运动生涯之后，卡哈纳莫库从事演员、治安官和冲浪者的工作，帮助将夏威夷的冲浪运动推广至世界各地新一代的冲浪者。冲浪竞赛在今年2020东京夏奥会首次登场。
 
Duke Kahanamoku (8/24/1890 – 1/22/1968), nicknamed “The Big Kahuna,” was a towering figure in the world of sports and entertainment, who popularized the sport of surfing.  Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1890, Kahanamoku was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming, having competed in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, and the 1924 Olympics in Paris.  Kahanamoku also was an alternate for the U.S. water polo team at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles.  Following his trail-blazing athletic career, Kahanamoku worked as an actor, sheriff and surfer, helping to popularize the Hawaiian sport of surfing to a new generation of surfers all over the world.  Surfing made its Olympics debut this year in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games.
Cesar Chavez Cesar Chavez talking to students 
塞萨尔·查韦斯(3/31/1927 – 4/23/1993)，美国劳工领袖、拉丁美洲裔民权活动人士。与桃乐丝·休尔塔(Dolores Huerta)共同成立全国农场工人协会(National Farm Workers Association)，其之后与农场工人组织委员会(Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee)合并，成为农场工人联合会(United Farm Workers)。出生于亚利桑那州尤马的一个墨西哥裔美国家庭，于海军服役后，搬迁至加州，在社区服务组织(Community Service Organization)帮助劳工登记投票。他最为人所知的是，以非暴力努力为数千名在加州农场和西岸工资低下、条件恶劣的移民劳工争取更好的工作条件。1994年，他被追授总统自由勋章(Presidential Medal of Freedom)。
 
Cesar Chavez (3/31/1927 – 4/23/1993) was an American labor leader and Latino civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union.  Born in Yuma, Arizona to a Mexican American family, after serving in the navy he moved to California and worked in the Community Service Organization (CSO) to help laborers register to vote.  He is best known for his non-violent efforts to gain better working conditions for the thousands of migrant workers who labored on farms in California and throughout the West for low wages and under severe conditions.  In 1994 he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Oksana rowing Oksana at the World Rowing Cup 
奥克萨娜·马斯特斯(6/19/1989 – )，乌克兰裔美国残奥会赛艇选手、越野滑雪选手。出生于乌克兰，因为1986年切尔诺贝利核反应堆事故的辐射造成先天缺陷。奥克萨娜出生时，长短腿且无承重骨，双手五指并指畸形，无大拇指，双脚各有六趾。马斯特斯七岁时，被美国母亲领养并搬至肯塔基州。2002年，时年13岁，开始划艇，之后没多久便开始赛艇。奥克萨娜参加过四届残奥会，赛艇、越野滑雪、冬季两项和公路自行车，总共赢得8面奖牌，包括两面金牌。
 
Oksana Masters (6/19/1989 – ) is an Ukrainian-American Paralympic rower and cross-country athlete.  Born in Ukraine, due to radiation-induced birth defects caused by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident, Oksana was born with legs of different lengths without weight-bearing bones, five webbed fingers on each hand and no thumbs, and six toes on each foot.  Masters was adopted by her American mother at age 7 and moved to Kentucky.  She started rowing in 2002 when she was 13, soon after began to row competitively.  Oksana has competed in four Paralympics — in rowing, cross-country skiing, biathlon and road cycling — and has won a total of eight medals, including two golds.
Rita Moreno Rita Moreno holding a recording of the West Side Story soundtrack 
丽塔·莫雷诺(12/11/1931 -)为美国女演员、舞者、歌手。其职业生涯横跨70个年头。出生于波多黎各，丽塔于1936年和母亲搬到纽约市，并在好莱坞黄金年代之际，开始她的电影生涯。在这段期间，得到数个主要角色，包括在音乐电影万花嬉春(Singin’ in the Rain, 1952)、国王与我(The King and I, 1956)、西城故事(West Side Story, 1961)担任配角。丽塔是少数几位获得演艺圈大满贯地位的艺术家之一，赢得艾美奖、葛莱美奖、奥斯卡奖和托尼奖。她也获颁2009年国家艺术勋章(National Medal of the Arts)、2004年总统荣誉勋章(Presidential Medal of Honor)、2015年肯尼迪中心通过表演艺术向她致敬，感谢她为美国文化的贡献。在整个职业生涯中，丽塔推动提高拉丁美洲裔在媒体界的代表性。
 
Rita Moreno (12/11/1931 -) is an American actress, dancer and singer; whose career has spanned over 70 years.  Born in Puerto Rico, Rita moved to New York City with her mother in 1936, and began her film career during the Golden Age of Hollywood.  She landed several major roles during this time, including supporting roles in musical films Singin’ in the Rain (1952), The King and I (1956), and West Side Story (1961).  Rita is one of the few artists to have achieved EGOT status, having won and Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony; She has also received 2009 National Medal of the Arts; 2004 Presidential Medal of Honor; and 2015 Kennedy Center Honor for her contributions to American culture through the performing arts.  Throughout her career, Rita has pushed for greater representation of Latinos in media.
George Washington Carver Poster highlighting Carver’s achievements 
乔治·华盛顿·卡佛(1864 – 1/5/1943)，美国农业科学家、发明家，其倡导棉花轮作（用花生和番薯交替）和耕作方式来预防地力耗损。他为20世纪早期最杰出的黑人科学家。卡佛生为奴隶，但在奴隶制度被废止后，他的家人鼓励他继续接受教育。他成为爱荷华州立大学(Iowa State University)首位黑人学生，并于1896年于该校取得硕士学位。作为塔斯基吉学院(Tuskegee Institute，成立于1881年以在农业和工业上培训非裔美国人)的教授，他开发技术改善耕作所造成的地力耗损。除了改善黑人农民的生活外，卡佛也是倡导环境保护主义的领袖。
 
George Washington Carver (1864 – 1/5/1943) was an American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops (peanuts and sweet potatoes) to cotton and farming methods to prevent soil depletion.  He was one of the most prominent black scientists of the early 20th century.  Carver was born into slavery, and after slavery was abolished, his family pushed him to continue his education.  He became the first black student at Iowa State University and received his master’s degree there in 1896.  As a professor at the Tuskegee Institute (founded in 1881 to train African-Americans in agriculture and industry), he developed techniques to improve soils depleted by farming.  Apart from his work to improve the lives of black farmers, Carver was also a leader in promoting environmentalism.
Joyce Chen Joyce Chen’s Cook Book 
乔伊斯·陈(9/14/1917 – 8/23/1994)为华裔美国厨师、餐厅老板、作家、电视名人、企业家，帮助把中国菜引进美国并将之推广。出生于中国北京，乔伊斯在1949年移民美国，搬到马萨诸塞州的剑桥。注意到她为烘烤义卖制作的中式小点心一小时内就被一扫而空，激发她在1958年开了第一家餐厅。1962年，出版具影响力的食谱，Joyce Chen Cook Book，使得北方菜在美国得以推广。乔伊斯为锅贴造了个名字”Peking Raviolis”(北京意大利饺)，设计出带柄平底炒锅（也被称为中式炒锅）的专利，并为美国市场开发出第一个系列的瓶装中国炒酱。她被认为是“华裔茱莉亚·切尔德”(Chinese Julia Childs)，使得中国菜在美国有了一席之地。她的成就和对美国菜的影响力使得美国邮政局和剑桥市因而向她致敬。
 
Joyce Chen (9/14/1917 – 8/23/1994) was a Chinese-American chef, restaurateur, author, television personality, and entrepreneur, who helped introduce and popularize Chinese cuisine in the United States.  Born in Beijing, China, Joyce immigrated to the United States in 1949, moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts.  After discovering her home cooked Chinese snacks she made for a bake sale sold out within an hour, she was inspired to open her first restaurant in 1958.  In 1962, she published her influential cookbook, the Joyce Chen Cook Book, which helped popularize northern-style Chinese cuisine in the United States.  Joyce coined the name “Peking Raviolis” for potstickers, invented a design patent for a flat bottom wok with a handle (also known as a stir fry pan), and developed the first line of bottled Chinese stir fry sauces for the US market.  She was known as the “Chinese Julia Childs,” firmly establishing Chinese cuisine in the United States.  Her accomplishments and influence on American cuisine were honored by the US Postal Service and by the city of Cambridge.

As part of our Constitution Day, U.S. Embassy Beijing is highlighting the achievements of fifteen #NotableAmericans, which show the rich diversity of the United States as well as highlight the contributions immigrants have made to our country.  Please follow our hashtags #EPluribusUnum and #NotableAmericans to learn more about these American heroes.
General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (12/18/1912 – 7/4/2002) was a United States Air Force general and commander of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of mainly African American airmen who fought in World War II.  He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1932.  During the four years of his Academy term, Davis was isolated by his classmates because of his race, never having a roommate and having to eat by himself.  His classmates hoped that this would push him to quit the Academy. The “silent treatment” however, had the opposite effect, pushing Davis to graduate and become the fourth black graduate of West Point.  During World War II, Davis was commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, which escorted bombers on air combat missions over Europe.  Davis flew sixty missions in P-39, Curtiss P-40, P-47 and P-51 Mustang fighters.  He later became the first black brigadier general in the United States Air Force. On December 9, 1998, he was advanced to four-star general by President Bill Clinton.
Rear Admiral Gordon Paiʻea Chung-Hoon (7/25/1910 – 7/24/1979) was an admiral in the United States Navy,who served during World War II and was the first Asian American flag officer.  A flag officer is someone who is authorized to fly their own command flags – representing the branches of the United States Armed Forces.  Chung-Hoon attended the United States Naval Academy and graduated in May 1934, becoming the first Asian American, U.S. citizen graduate of the academy.  He received the Navy Cross and Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary heroism as the commanding officer of the USS Sigsbee from May 1944 to October 1945.  After his ship was struck by a kamikaze plane, causing massive fires and damage to the ships engines and steering, Commander Chung-Hoon successfully directed his men in putting out the fires and saving the ship while continuing to fight more kamikaze planes.  In his honor, the US Navy DDG 93 guided missile destroyer was named after him, the only US Navy ship ever named after a Chinese-American.
Patsy Matsu Mink (12/6/1927 – 9/28/2002) was the first Hawaiian woman and first woman of color elected to Congress.  Patsy was a third-generation Japanese American, born on a sugar plantation camp in Paia, Hawaii, on the island of Maui.  After being rejected by 12 medical schools for being a woman, Patsy Mink pursued a law degree at the University of Chicago.  Before Hawaii became a state, Mink became the first woman with Japanese ancestry to serve in the Hawaiian Territorial Legislature.  After Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959, in 1965, Mink won a post in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served six consecutive terms.  She then served as Assistant Secretary of State in the Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs under the Carter administration.  Following that, Patsy returned to the House of Representatives where she served from 1990 to 2002.  In 1994 she co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, which seeks to promote Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) issues.
Indian-American Congressman
Dalip Singh Saund (9/20/1899 – 4/22/1973) was the first Asian American, the first Indian American, and the first Hindu to be elected to Congress.  Dalip was born in India in 1899 and came to the United States to originally study agriculture, but ultimately obtained a master’s degree and a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Berkeley, California.  He moved to Southern California during the Great Depression and worked as a farmer for more than 20 years before starting his own fertilizer business in the early 1950s.  Though he became politically active, Saund wasn’t able to run for political office because federal law prevented him from becoming a U.S. citizen.  After successfully campaigning for the right of South Asians to become naturalized citizens, he naturalized in 1949 and soon ran for office as a local judge.  He served four years as a judge before being elected to Congress in 1954.
Chien-Shiung Wu (5/31/1912 – 2/16/1997) was known as both the “First Lady of Physics” and the “Chinese Marie Curie,” making significant contributions to physics during her long career.  Chien-Shiung was born in Jiangsu, China, and moved to the United States in the 1930s to study physics at the University of California, Berkeley, where she completed her doctorate in 1940.  In 1944, Wu joined the research staff at Columbia University in 1944, where she worked on the Manhattan Project, which helped the United States develop the atomic bomb during World War II.  Her research, including the “Wu experiment”, helped colleagues receive the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics.  Wu herself received the inaugural Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978.  Despite her scientific accomplishments, Wu still faced gender discrimination in her field.  Wu fought for equal pay for women scientists throughout her career, and eventually became the first woman to serve as president of the American Physical Society.
Franklin Edward Kameny (1925-2011) was an American gay rights activist, considered one of the most significant figures in the American civil rights movement.  Born in New York City, after serving in the Army he received a master’s degree and doctorate in astronomy from Harvard University.  In 1957 he was fired from his position in the Army Map Service for being gay, leading him to become an early activist in the gay rights movement in America.  In 1965 he protested the unfair treatment of LGBTQI+ Americans by the U.S. Federal Government in front of the White House, the first demonstration of its kind.  He continued to provide legal support to LGBTQI+ Americans who were fired by the federal government, and his activism led to the signing of Executive Orders by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and 1998, which lifted the ban on security clearances for LGBTQI+ federal employees and outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal civilian workforce.
Rachel Carson (5/27/1907 – 4/14/1964) was an American marine biologist, author, and conservationist whose influential book Silent Spring (1962) and other writings advanced the global environmental movement.  Originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, Carson received a master’s degree from John Hopkins University in 1932 and had planned to obtain a doctorate when she paused her studies to support her family during the Great Depression by working at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries.  There she began her career as a biologist before becoming a nature writer in the 1950s.  Her widely praised bestseller The Sea Around Us won a U.S. National Book Award.  Silent Spring was her fourth book, and it studied environmental problems caused by chemical pesticides, particularly DDT.  Silent Spring had a major impact on the nascent environmental movement in the United States.  The book raised environmental awareness on the ecological impact of pesticides, and to the banning of DDT and other harmful pesticides in the United States.  In 1980, Carson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter.
Mary Jackson (4/9/1921 – 2/11/2005) was an American mathematician and aerospace engineer whose work contributed greatly to the development of America’s space program.  A gifted mathematician, Mary Jackson was recruited to work at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which became NASA in 1958.  She worked in the segregated computing section at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory before accepting an offer to work in the laboratory’s supersonic pressure tunnel.  She was recommended to enter a training program that would allow her to become an engineer, but she needed to first complete graduate level math and physics courses which were only offered at a then-segregated high school.  Jackson got special permission to join white peers in the classroom, completed the courses, and earned the promotion, becoming NASA’s first black female engineer in 1958.  Her story features in the movie “Hidden Figures” (2016).  Later in her career Mary worked to support women in science, engineering, and mathematics positions at NASA.  In 2021, the headquarters of NASA in Washington, D.C. was renamed the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters.

Sally Kristen Ride (5/26/1951 – 7/23/2012) was an American astronaut and physicist.  Born in Los Angeles, California, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman in space.  She remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32.  After flying twice on the Space Shuttle Challenger, she left NASA in 1987.  Ride worked for two years at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Arms Control, then at the University of California, San Diego, as a physics professor.  Previously married to another astronaut, after her death her obituary revealed she was in a private, long-term relationship with former Women’s Tennis Association player Tam O’Shaughnessy.  In 2013, she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  She is now recognized as the first LGBTQI+ space traveler.
Duke Kahanamoku (8/24/1890 – 1/22/1968), nicknamed “The Big Kahuna,” was a towering figure in the world of sports and entertainment, who popularized the sport of surfing.  Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1890, Kahanamoku was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming, having competed in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, and the 1924 Olympics in Paris.  Kahanamoku also was an alternate for the U.S. water polo team at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles.  Following his trail-blazing athletic career, Kahanamoku worked as an actor, sheriff and surfer, helping to popularize the Hawaiian sport of surfing to a new generation of surfers all over the world.  Surfing made its Olympics debut this year in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games.
Cesar Chavez (3/31/1927 – 4/23/1993) was an American labor leader and Latino civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union.  Born in Yuma, Arizona to a Mexican American family, after serving in the navy he moved to California and worked in the Community Service Organization (CSO) to help laborers register to vote.  He is best known for his non-violent efforts to gain better working conditions for the thousands of migrant workers who labored on farms in California and throughout the West for low wages and under severe conditions.  In 1994 he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Oksana Masters (6/19/1989 – ) is an Ukrainian-American Paralympic rower and cross-country athlete.  Born in Ukraine, due to radiation-induced birth defects caused by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident, Oksana was born with legs of different lengths without weight-bearing bones, five webbed fingers on each hand and no thumbs, and six toes on each foot.  Masters was adopted by her American mother at age 7 and moved to Kentucky.  She started rowing in 2002 when she was 13, soon after began to row competitively.  Oksana has competed in four Paralympics — in rowing, cross-country skiing, biathlon and road cycling — and has won a total of eight medals, including two golds.
Rita Moreno (12/11/1931 -) is an American actress, dancer and singer; whose career has spanned over 70 years.  Born in Puerto Rico, Rita moved to New York City with her mother in 1936, and began her film career during the Golden Age of Hollywood.  She landed several major roles during this time, including supporting roles in musical films Singin’ in the Rain (1952), The King and I (1956), and West Side Story (1961).  Rita is one of the few artists to have achieved EGOT status, having won and Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony; She has also received 2009 National Medal of the Arts; 2004 Presidential Medal of Honor; and 2015 Kennedy Center Honor for her contributions to American culture through the performing arts.  Throughout her career, Rita has pushed for greater representation of Latinos in media.
George Washington Carver (1864 – 1/5/1943) was an American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops (peanuts and sweet potatoes) to cotton and farming methods to prevent soil depletion.  He was one of the most prominent black scientists of the early 20th century.  Carver was born into slavery, and after slavery was abolished, his family pushed him to continue his education.  He became the first black student at Iowa State University and received his master’s degree there in 1896.  As a professor at the Tuskegee Institute (founded in 1881 to train African-Americans in agriculture and industry), he developed techniques to improve soils depleted by farming.  Apart from his work to improve the lives of black farmers, Carver was also a leader in promoting environmentalism.
Joyce Chen (9/14/1917 – 8/23/1994) was a Chinese-American chef, restaurateur, author, television personality, and entrepreneur, who helped introduce and popularize Chinese cuisine in the United States.  Born in Beijing, China, Joyce immigrated to the United States in 1949, moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts.  After discovering her home cooked Chinese snacks she made for a bake sale sold out within an hour, she was inspired to open her first restaurant in 1958.  In 1962, she published her influential cookbook, the Joyce Chen Cook Book, which helped popularize northern-style Chinese cuisine in the United States.  Joyce coined the name “Peking Raviolis” for potstickers, invented a design patent for a flat bottom wok with a handle (also known as a stir fry pan), and developed the first line of bottled Chinese stir fry sauces for the US market.  She was known as the “Chinese Julia Childs,” firmly establishing Chinese cuisine in the United States.  Her accomplishments and influence on American cuisine were honored by the US Postal Service and by the city of Cambridge.