The Committee of 100 mourns the passing of
mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao, 46. Cao passed away on February 21 in her San
Francisco home after a long battle against cancer.
A Shanghai native,
Cao developed her voice in San Francisco, dazzling audiences with notable
performances throughout her career, including her roles as Suzuki in Madama
Butterfly and Ruth in Stewart Wallace’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter,
based on the novel by Amy Tan. Cao later founded the Merola Opera Program Zheng
Cao Opera Fund, which sponsors an incoming Merola artist who is a mezzo-soprano
of Asian American or Pacific Islander descent. Cao joined C-100 in 2011.
The Committee
grieves the passing of Dr. Charles H. Sie, a longtime member and former Vice
Chairman of the Southern California region. Dr. Sie passed away on February 27,
2013 in Los Angeles, California.
Dr. Sie studied electrical engineering at
Manhattan College and received his Ph.D. from Iowa State University. He later became the first Chinese American Vice
President of Engineering at Xerox and was the founding Chairman of Aviva
Biosciences, a biochip start-up. After retiring, Dr. Sie was a visiting
professor at Nankai University and a special advisor to the Schools of
Engineering and Asian American Studies at the University of California Los
Angeles.
The Committee of 100 mourns the death of Senator Daniel Inouye and extends our warmest sympathy to his family.
Senator Inouye was a trailblazer in leading the
progress of Asian Americans in the United States. For more than half a
century, Senator Inouye has been a paragon of public service and
personal sacrifice. Along with his wife Irene Hirano Inouye, the Senator
actively advanced the Committee of 100's mission of bridging US-China
relations and empowering the Asian American community. Mrs. Inouye is a
devoted member of the C-100 Advisory Council.
America lost a giant in Senator Daniel Inouye. The Committee of 100 will greatly miss our friend, teacher and hero.
An exemplary Chinese American who dedicated his life to making a difference through public service and a member of the Committee of 100 since 1997, former California State Treasurer Matt Fong died on June 1 at his home in Pasadena. The cause was cancer. Undaunted by his illness, two weeks before his death, Fong gave a commencement speech for his alma mater, Southwestern School of Law, and received “thunderous applause” for his spirited words: “As fellow Southwestern graduates, we are survivors. Your future will be diverse and difficult but you will survive! Now, don’t forget to come back and give.”
Matt Fong and Dominic Ng at the 2006 Annual Conference.
C-100 Chairman Dominic Ng visited Fong and his family a few days before his death and found him “in good spirits and very much at peace with nature.” Fong was a C-100 Director for many years and also co-chaired the Membership Committee, which recruits new members. Ng recalled that not only did Fong bring him into C-100 more than a decade ago, but soon persuaded Ng to take over as Membership Co-Chair. “I am very much saddened that he left this world and his beautiful family at such a young age. He was a giant in our community and contributed tremendously to our society.”
Former Committee of 100 Chairman Major General John L. Fugh was buried with full military honors on August 24. Gen. Fugh died on May 11 at age 75. He was the first Chinese American to be a General Officer in the United States Army and the first and only minority person to serve as The Judge Advocate General, the Army’s top uniformed legal post. Following his retirement from the military, he led the Committee of 100 as Chairman from 2006 to 2009.
C-100 Chairman John L. Fugh at the
Committee of 100 Second Greater China Conference in Beijing, November
2007.
John Liu Fugh, the Committee’s fourth Chairman (2006-2009),
died of a heart attack on May 11. The first Chinese American general
officer in the U.S. Army and the first minority person to hold the
Army’s top uniformed legal post of Judge Advocate General, Major General
Fugh will be buried with full military honors in Arlington Cemetery on
August 24. Fugh’s early and later years uniquely bridged China and the
U.S. at the highest diplomatic levels, and his legacy at the Committee
of 100 was to strengthen the organization’s contributions to bettering
U.S.-China relations. Current C-100 Chairman John Chen said, “I
have deep respect for him.”
