Ms. Wu was the first Chinese American woman appointed by the president to serve on the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS), an independent Executive branch Federal agency to advise the President and Congress regarding library and information services and policies. In addition to NCLIS, she also served as the President and Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Community Colleges Board of Trustees for years. Being a librarian and educator of a cultural minority group, Ms. Wu made every effort in urging the Commission to heed the library and information needs of ethnic minorities. As a result, a committee on cultural minorities, handicapped and other special constituencies was finally appointed. As a national library program planner, Wu had a positive vision for the roles that Chinese American librarians could play in assisting to achieve the goals of the National Program. The most remarkable achievement of the Commission during Ms. Wu's tenure was the outcome of the White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services. She strongly encouraged Chinese American librarians to make themselves visible and heard by actively participating in the White House Conference to express their views. Ms. Wu has received numerous honors and awards, including the Distinguished Service Awards (Monterey Park City Council in California), Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association and Chinese American Librarians Association. (From Mengxiong Liu, "The History and Status of Chinese Americans in Librarianship", Library Trends, v. 49, n. 1 , 2000).
Return to Who's Who