Don Nakanishi was a professor and director of the Asian American Studies Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
11 Facts About Don Nakanishi
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Don Nakanishi was the pioneer of Asian American studies in the United States and was influential in expanding the influence of Asian-American descent.
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Don Nakanishi was born on August 14,1949, to two Japanese immigrants in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
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Don Nakanishi attended a Japanese school up until the 11th grade and was "very involved in the Japanese-American community;" however due to his multicultural surroundings, he was exposed to many other ways of life.
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Don Nakanishi was a member of the most diverse class in Yale's history at the time, being one of twenty one minority students.
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Don Nakanishi received his bachelor's degree in political science from Yale in 1971 and received his PhD in political science from Harvard University in 1978.
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Don Nakanishi believed this decision was a result of overt racial discrimination due to his extensive contributions in his field and took his case to court.
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The legal battle lasted several years and resulted in Don Nakanishi receiving his tenured position in 1989.
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Don Nakanishi was the first Asian American to be granted tenure by a highly accredited university.
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Don Nakanishi set the precedent for others to follow in his footsteps.
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Don Nakanishi co-founded the Amerasia Journal, and wrote more than 100 books, articles, and papers that focused on different social issues that plague society as a whole, not only minorities.