I left China, my native country, when I was a child to join my father in the Philippines. As a resident alien who had been through the difficult World-War II years and other hardships in the Philippines, I developed a deep interest in race and ethnic relations. This central interest led me in 1954 to the graduate program in sociology at Berkeley. Professor Tamotsu Shibutani, my dissertation adviser, invited me to work with him on a special project after I received my Ph.D. in 1958. Ethnic Stratification: A Comparative Approach, published by Macmillan in 1965, was the product of that collaboration.
I began my teaching career at Ohio University. My second academic appointment, at California State University, Northridge, lasted from 1965 until June 2000 (except for a visiting engagement in 1972-73 at the University of Hawaii).
Individuality and Social Control: Essays in Honor of Tamotsu Shibutani (JAI Press, 1996) - a collection of mostly original papers by nineteen contributors -- was some form of personal repayment to my longtime associate and benefactor. I wrote a 23-page "Foreword" to the Festschrift -- offering selective interpretations on (1) Darwin's Evolution Theory, (2) Peirce's Scientific Logic, (3) Founding of Chicago Pragmatism, and (4) Rise of Chicago Sociology. The preface concluded: "These two distinguished Chicago alumni [Tamotsu Shibutani and Anselm Strauss] and many of their associates and students have faith that generations of young men and women will discover anew the verities of their intellectual heritage, build on what they have done, and make further advances." Guided by these great traditions -- Darwinian natural selection, American pragmatism, and a renewed Chicago Sociology -- I hope to make additional contributions in the future.