Stephen Sumida
Stephen Sumida, professor of American ethnic studies, received the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Asian American Studies, which honors an individual’s contribution to the advancement of Asian American studies. Sumida earned his Ph.D. in English in 1982 from the University of Washington. He committed to Asian American literary studies in 1975, when he became the coordinator of the Pacific Northwest Asian American Writers’ Conference, held at the University of Washington in 1976.
Since then, he cofounded Talk Story Inc., a cultural organization for developing research, creativity, and study in Hawaii’s literature and arts; served as President of the Association of Asian American Studies; and has taught in Tokyo on a Fulbright Professorship. (end)