January 14, 2000

The Scholar Who Legitimized the Study of Chinese America

By PETER MONAGHAN

30 years ago, an independent researcher set the course for exploring the history of Asian immigrants

Him Mark Lai's colleagues call him "the dean of Chinese-American studies."

But that doesn't denote any official academic status.

Mr. Lai has never held a permanent or full-time position in academe.

Long before the advent of Asian-American studies 30 years ago, he followed a career path that was more open to Asian-Americans than the academy: engineering.

And

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