James Si-Cheng Chao is a Chinese-American entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder of the Foremost Group, a New York-based shipping, trading, and finance enterprise. The James S.C. Chao Scholarship is named after him.
Early life, education, and early career
Chao was born on December 29, 1927 in a small, rural farming village called Malu in Jiading County outside Shanghai, Republic of China. His parents were Yi-Ren Chao, an elementary school principal, and Yu-Chin Hsu Chao. They were farmers who "emphasized the value of education". Chao attended upper schools near Shanghai, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Wusong Merchant Marine College, where he majored in navigation. He finished his coursework in 1949 and went to sea as a cadet on a merchant vessel. At the climax of China's civil war, Chao's ship went to Taiwan, where he started a new life. In the mid-1950s, Chao advanced through the ranks to become one of the youngest sea captains of the time, at the age of 29. He moved to the United States in 1958, settling in New York City the same year. He received a master's degree in management from St. John's University, Queens, in 1964.
Foremost Group
In 1964, after receiving his MBA, Chao founded Foremost Group, a shipping, trading and finance enterprise based in New York. Chao has led the global shipping industry in incorporating "greener," more environmentally friendly designs and technology into his company's fleet of new vessels, some of the world's largest bulk carriers. In 2004, Chao was inducted into the International Maritime Hall of Fame at the United Nations in recognition of his long-standing service and dedication to the international maritime trading industry.
Philanthropy
Active philanthropists, Chao and his wife established the Mulan Foundation in 1984 to provide scholarships to help students in the U.S. and China access higher education and to promote U.S.-China cultural exchanges. In October 2012, Harvard University announced that Chao and his family foundation would donate $40 million to the Harvard Business School for the construction of the Ruth Mulan Chu Chao Center and the establishment of the Ruth Mulan Chu and James Si-Cheng Chao Family Fellowship Fund. The Center will be a new building dedicated to executive education, the first building at HBS named after a woman and of an Asian surname.
Recognitions
Chao was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree from Niagara University in 1992. Chao is the first winner of the Chinese American Academic and Professional Society Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awarded the "Ellis Island Medal of Honor". The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizen and Immigration Service recognized him in February 2008 as an Outstanding American by Choice. In 2009, he was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. Also, Nyack College conferred upon him the honorary D.Litt. degree. In 2010, the Museum of Chinese in America honored Chao with its inaugural Outstanding Achievement Award for the Chao Family; the first time ever such an honor has been awarded in its 130 years history. Chao has also served as an advisor, adjunct professor, and member of the St. John's University Board of Trustees for decades and the recipient of St. John's University's Medal of Honor, the highest honor that the University can confer upon any alumnus. Chao continues as its Trustee Emeritus. Chao has served for more than a decade as Chairman of both the Chiao-Tung University Alumni Association in America and the Chiao-Tung University Alumni Foundation of America from 1988-1999.
Personal life
Chao met his future wife, Ruth Mulan Chu Chao, when she and her family relocated to Shanghai from their ancestral estate in Anhui Province during World War II. In 1949, each relocated separately to Taiwan at the culmination of the Chinese Civil War, and they married in 1950. In 1958, Chao left behind his then 7-month pregnant wife and two young children when he moved to the United States, where they rejoined him in 1961. Ruth Mulan Chu Chao died on August 2, 2007. The Chaos had six daughters: Elaine, Jeanette, May, Christine, Grace, and Angela and six grandchildren. Chao's oldest daughter is Elaine Chao, who is the first woman of Asian Pacific American descent appointed to a president's cabinet: she served as secretary of labor from 2001 to 2009, and has served as secretary of transportation since 2017. She is married to Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader.
