Shih-Tso "Joe" Chen has been a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area since 1971. He graduated from Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts; and Princeton University with an A.B. in Architecture Cum Laude.
His parents were Ambassador Chih-Ping Chen and Lilleo Wong Chen. Ambassador Chen was in charge of the building and operation of the Burma Road, and High Comissioner to India, during World War II. After the War, Ambassador Chen was the Republic of China's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Philippines, Iraq, Jordan,the Arab Union, Libya, and Mexico. He was also a Chief Delegate for the Republic of China to the United Nations General Assembly for its sessions from 1963 to 1971.
Since arriving in the Bay Area at the end of 1971, Joe Chen has been a real estate developer, civic leader, singer, art collector,20:30, 23 May 2018 (UTC)Tsochen (talk) and dog fancier. His real estate developments include Bay Street Emeryville and the Courtyard by Marriott in Emeryville, California; and The Pacific Center (821 Market Street and 22 Fourth Street) and The KQED (Public Broadcasting) Building in San Francisco. He established Winning Shows lLC to research ways to create products to improve the experience of showing and promoting AKC dog breeds. In 2016, he co-founded Applied IP LLC, an intellectual property company. His civic activities include the institutionalization of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the creation of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and the founding of the Chinese American International School in San Francisco. He sang with the Princeton Glee Club, the Berkeley Bach Choir, and the Pacific Chamber Singers. He proudly shows his beloved Havanese, Kaili (AKC GCH. Lil Pawz Kai In The Sky Es Ti), winner of Best in Breed Bred by Exhibitor at the 2009 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship Show in Long Beach, California, who was also #1 Havanese Owner Handled between December 2015 and May 2016, and Champ (AKC CH. Es Ti El Ganador).