James S. C. Chao

James Si-Cheng Chao(Chinese:趙錫成;pinyin:Zhào Xíchéng; born December 29, 1927) is a Chinese businessman, philanthropist, and former sea captain. He is the founder of the shipping companyForemost Group. He is also known as the father ofElaine Chaoand father-in-law of United StatesSenate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell.
Chao was born on December 29, 1927,inMalu, a small, rural farming village inJiading CountyoutsideShanghai,Republic of China. His parents were Yi-Ren Chao, an elementary school principal, and Yu-Chin Hsu Chao. They were farmers who "emphasized thevalue of education".
Chao attended schools near Shanghai, includingShanghai Jiao Tong University(formerly National Chiao Tung University) andWusong Merchant Marine College, where he majored in navigation. He finished his coursework in 1949 and went to sea as a cadet on a merchant vessel. At the climax of theChinese Civil War, Chao's ship went to Taiwan, where it remained.
In the mid-1950s, Chao advanced through the ranks to become one of the youngest sea captains at the age of 29.He moved to the United States in 1958, settling inNew York Citythe same year.He earned a master's degree in management fromSt. John's Universityin 1964.
In 1964, after earning hisMBA, Chao founded Foremost Group, a shipping, trading and finance conglomerate based in New York.Chao has led the globalshipping industryin incorporating "greener", more environmentally friendly designs and technology into his company's fleet of new vessels, some of the world's largestbulk carriers.In 2004, Chao was inducted into theInternational Maritime Hall of Fameat the United Nations in recognition of his long-standing service and dedication to the international maritime trading industry.
Chao and his wife established theMulan ChuFoundation (later renamed the Shanghai Mulan Education Foundation) in 1984 to provide scholarships to help students in the U.S. and China access higher education and to promote U.S.-China cultural exchanges.In October 2012,Harvard Universityannounced that Chao and his family foundation would bequeath $40million to theHarvard Business Schoolfor the construction of theRuth Mulan Chu Chao Centerand the establishment of the Ruth Mulan Chu and James Si-Cheng Chao Family Fellowship Fund.The center is dedicated to managerial training and executive education, the first building at Harvard Business School to be named after an East Asian woman or any person bearing anEast Asian surname.
Chao's daughter Elaine wasU.S. Secretary of Laborduringthe presidencyofGeorge W. Bushand laterSecretary of Transportationduringthe first presidencyofDonald Trump. During that time, she was accused of using her office to promote her family's shipping business by appearing in interviews with Chao, and she asked Department of Transportation staff to promote her father's biography or to edit her father'sWikipediaarticle.An investigation and report ensued.According toThe New York Times, there was no finding that Secretary Chao violated ethics rules.Investigation materials were provided to prosecutors, who declined to charge any crime.
Chao met his future wife, Ruth Mulan Chu Chao, when she and her family relocated to Shanghai from their ancestral estate inAnhui Provinceduring World War II.In 1949, each relocated separately to Taiwan at the culmination of the Chinese Civil War,and they married in 1950. In 1958, Chao left behind his family when he moved to the United States, where they joined him in 1961.Ruth Mulan Chu Chao died on August 2, 2007, following a battle with lymphoma.The Chaos had six daughters: Elaine, Jeanette, May, Christine, Grace and Angela. The eldest three daughters were born in Taiwan; the youngest three were born in the United States.
Chao's oldest daughter isElaine Chao, who is the first woman of Asian Pacific American descent appointed to a US President's Cabinet: she served asSecretary of Laborfrom 2001 to 2009, and asSecretary of Transportationfrom 2017 to 2021.
Chao's daughterAngelasucceeded him as CEO of Foremost Group in 2018.She died in a car accident in February 2024.
Chao was awarded anhonoraryLL.D.degree fromNiagara Universityin 1992.Chao is the first winner of the Chinese American Academic and Professional Society Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award (2004).He was awarded the "Ellis Island Medal of Honor" (2005).The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizen and Immigration Service recognized him in February 2008 as an Outstanding American by Choice.
In 2009, he was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.Also,Nyack Collegeconferred upon him the honoraryD.Litt.degree.In 2010, the Museum of Chinese in America honored Chao with its inaugural Outstanding Achievement Award for the Chao Family; the first time ever such an honor has been awarded in its 130 years history.
Chao was an advisor, adjunct professor, and member of the St. John's University Board of Trustees for decades and the recipient of St. John's University's Medal of Honor. Chao continues as its Trustee Emeritus.
Chao was for more than a decade the Chairman of both Taiwan'sChiao-Tung UniversityAlumni Association in America and Chiao-Tung University Alumni Foundation of America from 1988 to 1999.