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James S. C. Chao

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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 company Foremost Group. He is also known as the father of Elaine Chao and father-in-law of United States Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

James S. C. Chao
Chao in 2016
Born
Chao Si-Cheng

(1927-12-29) December 29, 1927 (age 96)
Malu, Jiading County, China
NationalityChinese-American
Alma materWusong Merchant Marine College (BS)
St. John's University (MBA)
Occupation(s)Businessman, philanthropist, Sea captain
TitleFounder of Foremost Group
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1951; died 2007)​
[1]
Children6, including Elaine Chao and Angela Chao
James S. C. Chao
Traditional Chinese趙錫成
Simplified Chinese赵锡成
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhào Xíchéng
Wade–GilesChao4 Hsi2-ch'eng2

Early life, education

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Chao was born on December 29, 1927,[2] in Malu, a small, rural farming village in Jiading County outside Shanghai, Republic of China. His parents were Yi-Ren Chao, an elementary school principal, and Yu-Chin Hsu Chao. They were farmers who "emphasized the value of education".[3]

Chao attended schools near Shanghai, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University (formerly National Chiao Tung University) and Wusong 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 the Chinese Civil War, Chao's ship went to Taiwan, where it remained.[4]

Career

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In the mid-1950s, Chao advanced through the ranks to become one of the youngest sea captains at the age of 29.[5][6] He moved to the United States in 1958, settling in New York City the same year.[7][8] He earned a master's degree in management from St. John's University in 1964.[4]

Foremost Group

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Main article: Foremost Group

In 1964, after earning his MBA, Chao founded Foremost Group, a shipping, trading and finance conglomerate based in New York.[9] Chao has led the global shipping industry in incorporating "greener", more environmentally friendly designs and technology into his company's fleet of new vessels, some of the world's largest bulk carriers.[5] In 2004, Chao was inducted into the International Maritime Hall of Fame at the United Nations in recognition of his long-standing service and dedication to the international maritime trading industry.[5]

Foundation

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Chao and his wife established the Mulan Chu Foundation (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.[10] In October 2012, Harvard University announced that Chao and his family foundation would bequeath $40 million to the Harvard Business School for the construction of the Ruth Mulan Chu Chao Center and the establishment of the Ruth Mulan Chu and James Si-Cheng Chao Family Fellowship Fund.[11] 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 an East Asian surname.[12][13]

Controversy

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Chao's daughter Elaine was U.S. Secretary of Labor during the presidency of George W. Bush and later Secretary of Transportation during the presidency of Donald 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's Wikipedia article.[14][15][16] An investigation and report ensued.[14] According to The New York Times, there was no finding that Secretary Chao violated ethics rules.[17] Investigation materials were provided to prosecutors, who declined to charge any crime.[14]

Personal life

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Chao met his future wife, Ruth Mulan Chu Chao, when she and her family relocated to Shanghai from their ancestral estate in Anhui Province during World War II.[18] In 1949, each relocated separately to Taiwan at the culmination of the Chinese Civil War,[19] 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.[10][20] Ruth Mulan Chu Chao died on August 2, 2007, following a battle with lymphoma.[21] 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.[22][23][24]

Chao's oldest daughter is Elaine Chao, who is the first woman of Asian Pacific American descent appointed to a US President's Cabinet: she served as Secretary of Labor from 2001 to 2009, and as Secretary of Transportation from 2017 to 2021.

Chao's daughter Angela succeeded him as CEO of Foremost Group in 2018.[25] She died in a car accident in February 2024.[26]

Awards and honors

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Chao was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree from Niagara University in 1992.[24] Chao is the first winner of the Chinese American Academic and Professional Society Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award (2004).[27] He was awarded the "Ellis Island Medal of Honor" (2005).[28] The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizen and Immigration Service recognized him in February 2008 as an Outstanding American by Choice.[20]

In 2009, he was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.[29] Also, Nyack College conferred upon him the honorary D.Litt. degree.[24] 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's Chiao-Tung University Alumni Association in America and Chiao-Tung University Alumni Foundation of America from 1988 to 1999.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Mrs. Ruth Mulan Chu Chao". The Foremost Foundation. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  2. ^ Men of Achievement. Melrose Press. 1983. ISBN 9780900332661.
  3. ^ "Childhood & Family". ElaineLChao.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  4. ^ a b "James S. C. Chao Chairman Foremost Group New York Class Year: 2009". Horatio Alger Association. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "Bio of Dr. James S.C. Chao, The Inaugural CAAPS Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award Winner". Chinese American Academic and Professional Society (CAAPS). 12 October 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  6. ^ "Chao Family Foundations". 20 May 2013. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  7. ^ Hutchison, Kay Bailey (13 October 2009). Leading Ladies. HarperCollins. p. 359. ISBN 978-0-06-174832-5. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  8. ^ Gall, Susan B. (1 January 1995). Asian American Biography: A-L. UXL. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-8103-9688-3. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  9. ^ "Harvard Business School Building Boom Continues". Harvard Magazine. October 12, 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Ordinary yet Extraordinary, The Ruth Mulan Chu CHao Story". Asian Fortune. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  11. ^ Koch, Katie (October 14, 2012). "Chao family gives $40 million to HBS". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  12. ^ Dension, D.C. (October 12, 2012). "Harvard Business School gets $40 million family donation". Boston Globe. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  13. ^ Dixon, Brandon J. (June 16, 2016). "Business School Names First HBS Building after a Woman, Asian American". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  14. ^ a b c Lipton, Eric; Forsythe, Michael (2021-03-03). "Inspector General's Report Cites Elaine Chao for Misuse of Office". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  15. ^ Watchdog says Elaine Chao, ex-transpo secretary and Mitch McConnell's wife, misused office including making staff edit her dad's Wikipedia page, Business Insider India, LAUREN FRIAS, March 4, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  16. ^ Snyder, Tanya (May 6, 2018). "Did Elaine Chao's DOT interviews help her family's business?". POLITICO. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  17. ^ Lipton, Eric; Forsythe, Michael (2021-03-03). "Inspector General's Report Cites Elaine Chao for Using Office to Help Family". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  18. ^ "Mrs. Ruth Mulan Chu Chao – Chao Family Foundations". Chao Family Foundations. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  19. ^ "James S. C. Chao Chairman Foremost Group New York Class Year: 2009". Horatio Alger Association. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  20. ^ a b "2008 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". US Citizenship and Immigration Service. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  21. ^ Chao, Elaine. "Ordinary Yet Extraordinary – Ruth Mulan Chu Chao's Story". Asian Fortune. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  22. ^ "Deaths CHAO, RUTH MULAN CHU". The New York Times. August 8, 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  23. ^ United States of America. Congressional Record – Proceedings and Debates of the 110th Congress – First Session. Government Printing Office. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  24. ^ a b c "Dr. James S.C. Chao". The Foremost Foundation. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  25. ^ Isidore, Chris (February 14, 2024). "Shipping CEO Angela Chao, sister of former Cabinet member Elaine Chao, dies in car crash". CNN Business. Archived from the original on February 15, 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  26. ^ "Angela Chao, shipping CEO and sister of Elaine Chao, dies in a car accident". NBC News. 13 February 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  27. ^ "Bio of Dr. James S.C. Chao, The Inaugural CAAPS Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award Winner". bostonese.com English-Chinese Online Journal / 波士顿华人双语网 Largest English-Chinese Bilingual News Magazine in the USA. 12 October 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  28. ^ "World renowned Maritime celebrity, Dr. James S. C. Chao visited Fudan University". Fudan University Education Development Foundation. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  29. ^ "Chao, 2009 Horatio Alger Award Winner". Marine Magazine. 10 February 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
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