Betty Lee Sung

Betty Lee Sung currently serves as Chair of the Asian American/Asian Research Institute. She is a Professor Emerita and Former Chair of the Department of Asian Studies, City College of New York

Prof. Betty Lee Sung is a leading authority on the Chinese in the United States. Her first book, Mountain of Gold (1967), was a pioneering chronicle of the history of the Chinese in America. Its publication led to an invitation to initiate Asian American Studies at the City College of New York in 1970. Again, these courses were the first of their kind in the Eastern United States.

Prof. Sung followed with seven other books on Chinese Americans. In 1994, she completed a database of the Chinese immigrant records in the New York Region National Archives. The database will enable scholars to recreate the early history of the Chinese in this country and serve as a source for genealogical research.

Born in the United States on October 3, 1924 to poor Chinese immigrant parents from Guangdong, Prof. Sung has gone through the full gamut of struggles, discrimination, experiences, and achievements of Chinese Americans. She grew up in Washington, D.C., but during the depression years her father took the family back to his hometown, Toishan. She returned to the United States shortly before Guangdong fell into Japanese hands during World War II.

Prof. Sung has been the recipient of many research grants and awards. Her book Manpower and Employment book won an outstanding book award in 1976. Her first book, Mountain of Gold, is a classic in Asian American Studies. Not only did she teach, research and write, Prof. Sung is also an advocate for Chinese American interests. She is active in many organizations, and she speaks out against discrimination and injustice toward Chinese Americans. She has been honored by many organizations like the Cosmopolitan Lion's Club, the Organization of Chinese Americans, the Asian American Higher Education Council, among many others. In 1996, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from the State University of New York Old Westbury, and she gave the commencement address.

Prof. Sung is married to Charles Chung, formerly with the United Nations. In addition to all her professional achievements, she and her husband have brought up eight children, who have given them thirteen grandchildren.