About
Co-leads: Roy Wattanasin roywatt@mit.edu (VP for Research), Eugenia C Beh ebeh@mit.edu (Libraries)
Our Mission:
The mission of the MIT Asian Pacific American Employee Resource Group is to foster networking, professional development, mentoring, and leadership opportunities with a focus on the recruitment, retention, learning, and advancement of Asian Pacific Americans at MIT.
Objectives:
- Embrace a culture of inclusion and build awareness and appreciation for diversity
- Facilitate networking and career development opportunities by connecting members with similar professional and personal interests
- Facilitate informal mentoring opportunities by providing guidance, advice, and training as well as sharing the exciting work being done throughout MIT
- Sponsor professional and personal development workshops, seminars, and lectures featuring distinguished speakers
- Ensure that information about events of interest and members’ achievements is effectively distributed throughout MIT
- Foster awareness of Asian Pacific American issues
Past Events
Researching in Fear in the US,” Gang Chen at the APA ERG
Dr. Gang Chen, Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering and recipient of the 2024 American Courage Award from Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC). In 2021, Dr. Chen was arrested at his home by federal officials as part of the China Initiative, a 2018 program that targeted scientific researchers and academics affiliated with China. The case generated immediate support for Dr. Chen from withinMIT and from researchers around the country. In 2022, the government asked the court to dismiss the case against him in its entirety.
Dr. Chen talks about his experiences, and his ongoing efforts to educate the US Congress and the public about the harms caused by the China Initiative to Chinese and Chinese American researchers and the academic community at large.
Asian American Visibility and Intersectionality at MIT
Professors Lily Tsai, Emma Teng, and Craig Wilder talk about political triangulation, the ‘model minority’ myth, and the role of the institutions in historic racial tension.
Arup K. Chakraborty in conversation with the APA ERG
The chemical engineering professor discusses his new book Viruses, Pandemics, and Immunity and his own Asian American identity.