  david henry hwang (; born august 11, 1957, in los angeles) is an american playwright, librettist, and screenwriter, as well as a theater professor. hilton als of the new yorker has described him as "the most successful chinese-american playwright this country has produced." ==early life== he was born in los angeles, california to henry yuan hwang, a banker, and dorothy hwang, a piano teacher. the oldest of three children, he has two younger sisters. he received a bachelor's degree in english from stanford university and attended the yale school of drama, taking literature classes. he left once workshopping of new plays began since he already had a play on in new york. his first play was produced at the okada house dormitory at stanford after he briefly studied playwriting with sam shepard and marÃ­a irene fornÃ©s. ==career== thumb|left|playwright david henry hwang teaching a writing class in san francisco's fort mason in 1979 === isolationalist-nationalist phase/trilogy of chinese america === hwang's early plays concerned the role of the chinese american and asian american in the modern day world. his first play, the obie award-winning fob, depicts the contrasts and conflicts between established asian americans and "fresh off the boat" newcomer immigrants. the play was developed by the national playwrights conference at the [[eugene o'ne
1957_births American_dramatists_and_playwrights_of_Asian_descent American_writers_of_Chinese_descent Columbia_University_faculty Guggenheim_Fellows Living_people Members_of_Committee_of_100 Obie_Award_recipients Plays_by_David_Henry_Hwang Stanford_University_alumni Writers_from_Los_Angeles,_California Yale_School_of_Drama_alumni