List of Asian-American firsts
are an ethnic group in the United States, denoting Americans of Asian descent. The phrase Asian-American was coined by Yuji Ichioka in 1968 during the founding of the Asian American Political Alliance, and started to be used by the U.S. Census in 1980.
Firsts by Asian-Americans in various fields have historically marked footholds, often leading to more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for them is "breaking the color barrier". One commonly cited example is that of Wataru Misaka, who was the first non-white, and first Asian-American to become a National Basketball Association player.
Arts and entertainment
Academy Awards
- 1955: James Wong Howe becomes the first Asian-American to win the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, for The Rose Tattoo.
- 1957: Miyoshi Umeki becomes the first Asian-American to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for Sayonara.
- 1984: Haing Somnang Ngor becomes the first Asian-American to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Killing Fields.
- 1990: Steven Okazaki becomes the first Asian-American to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary, for .
- 1997: Chris Tashima becomes the first Asian-American to win the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, for Visas and Virtue.
- 2019: Kazu Hiro becomes the first Asian-American to win the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, for Bombshell. This was his first win following his naturalization.
Fashion
- 2012: Alexander Wang becomes the first Asian-American creative director and head of a French haute couture house.
Film (aside from the Academy Awards)
- 1919-1961: Anna May Wong is considered to be the first major Asian-American film star in the world.
- 2018: John Cho becomes the first Asian-American actor to headline a mainstream Hollywood thriller, Searching.
- 2020: Awkwafina becomes the first Asian-American to win the Golden Globe Award for best actress in the musical or comedy category, for The Farewell.
Literature (aside from the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes)
- 1928: Dhan Gopal Mukerji becomes the first Asian-American to win a Newbery Medal, for Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon.
Music
- 2010: Far East Movement becomes the first Asian-American music group to earn a No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, for Like a G6.
Pulitzer Prizes
- 1937: Gobind Behari Lal becomes the first Asian-American to win a Pulitzer Prize in Reporting
- 1990: Sheryl WuDunn becomes the first Asian-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in Reporting.
Television
- 1951: Anna May Wong becomes the first Asian-American to lead a U.S. television show, with her work on The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong.
- 2018: Aziz Ansari becomes the first Asian-American to win a Golden Globe for acting in television; specifically, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for Master of None.
- 2019: Bowen Yang becomes the first Asian-American cast member on Saturday Night Live.
Theater
- 1972: Frank Chin becomes the first Asian-American to have a play produced on a major New York stage
Other
- 2000: Angela Perez Baraquio Grey becomes the first Asian-American to win the Miss America pageant.
Business and commerce
- 1986: Gerald Tsai becomes the first Asian-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
- 2013: Kevin Tsujihara becomes the first Asian-American CEO of a major Hollywood studio.
Dentistry
- 2002: Dr. Eugene Sekiguchi is elected as the first Asian-American president of the American Dental Association.
Diplomacy
- 1989: Julia Chang Bloch becomes the first Asian-American U.S. ambassador, as US Ambassador to Nepal.
Education
- 1990: Chang-Lin Tien becomes the first Asian-American to lead a major American research university, as Chancellor of UC Berkeley.
- 2009: Jim Yong Kim becomes the first Asian-American president of an Ivy League institution, as president of Dartmouth College.
Journalism
- 1943: Ah Jook Ku becomes the first Asian-American reporter for the Associated Press.
- 1993: Connie Chung becomes the first Asian-American to anchor one of America's major network newscasts.
Judiciary and politics
- 1946: Wing F. Ong becomes the first Asian-American to be elected to a state legislative body in the United States, in the Arizona House of Representatives.
- 1957: Dalip Singh Saund becomes the first Asian-American elected to the United States Congress, as a Representative for California's 29th district.
- 1964: Hiram Fong, a Republican, becomes the first Asian-American candidate for U.S. president.
- 1971: Norman Mineta becomes the first Asian-American mayor of a major city in the United States.A
- 1971: Herbert Choy becomes the first Asian-American U.S. federal court judge, appointed to the U.S. court of appeals for the ninth circuit.
- 1972: Patsy Mink becomes the first Asian-American Democratic candidate for U.S. president.
- 1974: George Ariyoshi becomes the first Asian-American governor of a U.S. state.
- 1984: Joy Cherian becomes the first Asian-American Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
- 2002: Kenneth P. Moritsugu becomes the first Asian-American Surgeon General.
- 2010: Daniel Inouye becomes the first Asian-American President pro tempore of the United States Senate, making him the highest-ranking Asian-American politician in American history.
- 2015: Yumi Hogan becomes the first Asian-American First Lady of Maryland.
Military
- 1944: Kurt Lee becomes the first Asian-American officer in the Marine Corps.
- 1959: Gordon Chung-Hoon becomes the first Asian-American flag officer in the United States Navy.
- 2015: Harry Harris Jr. becomes the first Asian-American to command the U.S. Pacific Command.
- 2020: JoAnne S. Bass becomes the first Asian-American Air Force chief master sergeant.
Religion
- 1999: Angela Warnick Buchdahl becomes the first Asian-American to be ordained as a cantor upon being ordained by HUC-JIR, an American seminary for Reform Judaism.
- 2001: Angela Warnick Buchdahl becomes the first Asian-American to be ordained as a rabbi upon being ordained by HUC-JIR, an American seminary for Reform Judaism.
- 2002: Ignatius Wang becomes the first Asian-American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church.
Science and technology
Aerospace and aviation
See also: List of Asian astronauts- 1985: Ellison Onizuka becomes the first Asian-American in space, as an astronaut on the space shuttle Discovery.
Mathematics
- 1982: Shing-Tung Yau becomes the first Asian-American to be awarded the Fields Medal.
Nobel Prizes
- 1957: Chinese-Americans Chen-Ning Yang and Tsung-dao Lee become the first Asian-Americans to win any Nobel prize when they share the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Sports
Baseball
- 1956: Bobby Balcena becomes the first Asian-American to play in Major League Baseball, playing two games for the Cincinnati Redlegs.
Basketball
- 1947: Wataru Misaka becomes the first Asian-American to play in the National Basketball Association.
- 2008: Erik Spoelstra becomes the first Asian-American head coach of the National Basketball Association. He is the first Asian-American head coach in any of the four major North American sports leagues.
- 2019: Jeremy Lin becomes the first Asian-American NBA Champion.
Figure skating
- 1985: Tiffany Chin becomes the first Asian-American U.S. Figure Skating national champion.
Football (Gridiron football)
- 1927: Walter Achiu becomes the first Asian American to play in the National Football League when he plays for the now defunct Dayton Triangles of the NFL.
- 1962: Roman Gabriel becomes the first Asian-American NFL quarterback.
Olympics
- 1948: Victoria Manalo Draves wins gold in platform and springboard diving in the 1948 Olympics, becoming the first Asian-American to win a gold medal in the Summer Olympics.
Tennis
- 1989: Michael Chang becomes the first Asian-American winner of a Grand Slam tennis tournament in men's singles, winning the French Open.