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Biography
Dr. Thomas Tam
was born on
April 15, 1946
in Fujian,
China, during
the Chinese
Civil War. He
spent his
childhood in
Hong Kong where
his parents had
to rebuild their
home from the
ground up. Dr.
Tam and his
family
immigrated to
New York in
1964. He
received BA in
physics from
City College of
New York (1968),
M.A. in
film-making from
Montclair State
University
(1978), M.P.H.
from Columbia
University
School of Public
Health (1980);
and Ph.D. in
SocioMedical
Sciences from
Columbia
University
(1983). He is
Chairman of the
Asian American
Higher Education
Council, and
Executive
Director of
Asian
American/Asian
Research
Institute, as
well as the
President of
Oishi Movies,
Inc. which
produced a
feature:
Sunrise on
Mulberry Street.
After graduating
from City
College of New
York, Tam
developed an
active interest
in community
improvement in
Chinatown, when
he initiated a
ten-day health
fair which
screened two
thousand five
hundred
residents,
leading to the
establishment of
Chinatown Health
Clinic, now
known as the
Charles B. Wang
Health Center.
Tam’s career in
community health
continued when
he became
administrators
of various
City-wide health
agencies. He
taught at
Columbia
University,
Herbert Lehman
College, and St.
Joseph's
University in
Philadelphia.
In 1989, he was
appointed to the
Board of
Trustees of the
City University
of New York as
the first
Chinese American
member. Dr. Tam
worked with a
group of faculty
members to
establish the
Asian American
Higher Education
Council, an
organization
which addresses
critical issues
concerning
higher education
in the Asian
American
community. Under
Tam’s
leadership, this
organization has
successfully
organized
numerous
conferences and
the creation of
the Asian
American / Asian
Research
Institute
(AAARI), where
he served as
Executive
Director from
2001 to 2006.
In addition to
his contribution
to the fields of
community health
and higher
education, Dr.
Tam also has an
abiding interest
in movie making,
an avocation
which he has
nurtured since
college. He has
produced many
short movies
which have been
exhibited at
various
institutions
including the
Whitney Museum
of American Art.
Tam has also
founded the
Asian American
Film Festival in
1972, which
became Asian
Cine Vision, an
organization
with
international
recognition for
showcasing
movies from
Asian/Asian
American
artists.
Dr. Tam is a
recent convert
to Buddhism and
has completed a
documentary
video,
En Route to
Lhasa.
Dr. Tam is
married to
Margaret. He and
his wife have
three children,
Emily, Victor,
and Anika.
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