SAPAAC November 2025 Newsletter


IN THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

  • Announcements
  • Upcoming Events
  • Recent Events
  • Stories from Asian America
  • Member Spotlight

Stay up to date on the latest SAPAAC news! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram or visit the SAPAAC website.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Remembering Emory Lee, SAPAAC Founding Member

SAPAAC was saddened to learn of the passing of Emory Lee, BA '59, MA '64, last week. Emory was a founding member of SAPAAC, in addition to serving on the Stanford Alumni Association board and chairing the National Advisory Board of the Center for Comparative Studies of Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE). We are grateful for all that Emory contributed to our organization and hope that our work will continue to carry on his legacy. Our deepest condolences go out to the Lee family. A memorial service is being planned for January and we’ll be sure to share details in next month’s newsletter.

UPCOMING EVENTS

2025 Winter Ivy+ Happy Hour in NYC

December 8, 5:30 - 9 pm

5th & Madison, 7 East 36th Street, New York, NY

Cost: Early Bird Discount (ends December 3rd): Alumni $15, Guest $20. General Price (after December 3rd): Alumni $25, Guest $30.

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-winter-ivy-happy-hour-tickets-1967881911772?aff=oddtdtcreator

Join the Asian Columbia Alumni Association (ACAA) to kickoff holiday celebrations at 5th & Madison with other Ivy+ alumni in the New York area! Meet old friends, mingle with new ones, and network for the future. Every ticket holder gets a free raffle for prizes. Drink specials from 5:30-7 pm: $8 beer, $9 wine and $10 mixed drinks. Come early for appetizers! In conjunction with Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, Harvard, UPenn, Yale, and MIT.

RECENT EVENTS

On November 6, SAPAAC co-hosted a conversation at the Stanford d.school with Taiwanese American alum Jane Chen on her new memoir, Like a Wave We Break. Students and alumni gathered for an honest exploration of success, mental health, and the intergenerational pressures many Asian American leaders navigate, grounded in Jane’s journey as CEO of Embrace, the social venture born out of a d.school class.

On November 2, SAPAAC hosted a lively conversation with Professor Gordon Chang, PhD ’78, on his latest book, Race, War, and Culture. Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, BA '92, MA '93, PhD ’98, moderated the event. If you missed the livestream, you can watch the replay here.

Guest speaker Dr. Che-Hong Chen, Stanford research scientist and founder of the Alcohol Intolerance and Cancer Awareness Program (AICAP), gave a presentation on Asian glow and alcohol intolerance to a rapt audience on November 5. Catch the recording of his insightful presentation here.

STORIES FROM ASIAN AMERICA

We highlight issues important to Asian Americans and Stanford alumni, around the country and on campus. Submit your stories for the newsletter here.

Author Jeff Chang explores why Bruce Lee, 50 years after his death, remains “a hero to people all around the world” in his biography Water Mirror Echo.

Kim Chiang and Dr. Bryant Lin launched MED 251/ASNAMST 251: “Asian American Leadership,” a course that brings prominent Asian American leaders from diverse sectors to share their experiences with Stanford students. The course, capped at 20 students, meets twice weekly at CCSR 4205 and has already hosted speakers including Professor Gordon Chang, who co-founded the Asian American Research Center at Stanford, and Paramesh Gopi, co-founder and CEO of SoundHealth.

Carl Samson explains how Asian American leaders emerged as prominent voices in the nationwide No Kings demonstrations, where an estimated seven million protesters gathered across more than 2,600 cities to challenge what they characterized as authoritarian overreach by the Trump administration. 

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT🔦

Name: Christian Yongwhan Lim

Position: SAPAAC Board Member

Stanford Affiliations: BS/MS in Computer Science & Mathematics, Class of 2011/2013

What I’m currently working on: I’m currently serving as a Principal Engineer at an AI startup. I also stay deeply involved in competitive programming and education: I serve as Director of Internships for the ICPC Foundation, coach Columbia University’s ICPC team, train Pakistan’s IOI team, and teach as an adjunct faculty at Columbia. My recent work spans everything from agent orchestration frameworks to global algorithmic training programs.

What I’m currently enjoying: Lately I’ve been enjoying teaching and coaching—especially working with students preparing for ICPC and IOI—as well as building out new engineering foundations that make AI systems more reliable. Outside of work and teaching, I enjoy playing poker, going to music concerts, mentoring early-career engineers, and exploring New York’s incredible food scene.

Fun Fact: Before moving fully into industry, I began a PhD in Operations Research at MIT, focusing on combinatorial optimization. I am looking forward to coaching Columbia’s inaugural poker team to represent the university in an Ivy league poker tournament.

GET INVOLVED! Do you want to have an impact on AAPI alumni? Work with any of our three working committees, which focus on organizing events, advocating for AAPI issues within the university, and growing our membership. All SAPAAC members are welcome to join our bi-monthly committee meetings, which will be convening again in January.

Events

Chair: Andrew Jabara, ’18, [email protected] 

West Coast Leader: Jin Park, ’91, [email protected] 

East Coast Leader: Josephine Lau, ’06, [email protected] 

Advocacy & Education Committee

Chair: Christian Lim, ’11, [email protected]

Membership Committee 

Chair: Kuldip Ambastha, ’04, [email protected] 

Other questions for SAPAAC? Email us at [email protected]  

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