Rebel With a Cause

From paying her own way through college to writing a landmark book addressing Asian American culture, Betty Lee Sung has a habit of taking matters into her own hands.

After discovering how little material was available on the Chinese community in America, Sung wrote Mountain of Gold: The Story of the Chinese in America in 1967, which sparked interest in Asian American studies nationwide. That led her to the City College of New York to found the school's Asian American Studies department in 1970-the first program of its kind east of California. Today, Asian American studies programs are common at schools across the country.

For pioneering Asian American studies, Sung, a 1948 University of Illinois graduate in sociology and economics, returns to the U. of I. for Homecoming as a recipient of the University of Illinois Alumni Association's 2006 Illini Comeback Award.

A rebellious young woman, Sung disobeyed her father's wishes to get married. Instead she earned a four-year scholarship to the U. of I. and paid her own room and board by washing dishes and cleaning toilets.

Much of Sung's inspiration for her work on behalf of the Asian American community came from her experiences growing up in the face of prejudice in racially-segregated Washington, D.C., where she was born in the 1920s. Her family moved back to China during the Great Depression. But after the Japanese invasion of China during World War II, Sung and her family returned to the United States, seeking a safer place to live.

Sung has also served on the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation committee as an advisor to help rebuild Chinatown after 9/11. She and her husband Charles Chung, formerly with the United Nations, have eight children.

During this year's Homecoming celebrations, Sung will participate in a series of activities and lectures, along with several other distinguished alumni.

See the schedule for Homecoming 2006.