About

Distinguished Professor of

Sociology & Asian American Studies

Walter and Shirley Wang Endowed Chair in
U.S.-China Relations and Communications
Director, Asia Pacific Center
Founding chair of Asian American Studies Department
(2001-2005) at UCLA

Dr. Min Zhou is a Distinguished Professor of Sociology & Asian American Studies, Walter and Shirley Wang Endowed Chair in U.S.-China Relations and Communications, and the founding chair of Asian American Studies Department (2001-2005) at UCLA. She is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her main research interests include migration and development, ethnic and racial relations, immigrant entrepreneurship, education and the new second generation, the sociology of Asia and Asian America, and urban sociology.

Education Career Awards Research Books Address

Education

May 1989

Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology, State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany

May 1988

Certificate of Graduate Study in Urban Policy, State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany

December 1985

Master of Arts in Sociology, State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany

January 1982

Bachelor of Arts in English, Sun Yat-Sen (Zhongshan) University, China

Professional Career

July 2000 to Present

Professor, Department of Sociology Professor, Asian American Studies Department UCLA

November 2016 to Present

Director, Asia Pacific Center, International Institute UCLA

July 2013 to June 2016 (on leave from UCLA)

Tan Lark Sye Chair Professor

Head of Sociology Division, School of Social Sciences Director, Chinese Heritage Centre

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

September 2005 to June 2006

Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford

July 2001 to June 2005

Founding Chair, Asian American Studies Department (Chair, Asian American Studies Interdepartmental Degree Program, July 2001 to August 2004), UCLA

September 2000 to June 2001

Visiting Scholar, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, Washington D.C.

July 1994 to June 2000

Assistant to Associate Professor, Department of Sociology & Asian American Studies Interdepartmental Degree Program, UCLA

September 1994 to July 1995

Visiting Scholar, Russell Sage Foundation, New York

August 1990 to August 1994

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

Awards

Chinatown: The Socioeconomic Potential of an Urban Enclave

Honorable Mention of the 1993 Robert E. Park Award, Community of Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association

Growing up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States (with Bankston)

Winner of the 1999 Thomas and Znaniecki Award, Section on International Migration of the American Sociological Association
Winner of 2000 Best Book Award, the Mid-South Sociological Association

Asian American Youth: Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity (with Lee)

Winner of the 2006 Outstanding Book Award, Section on Asia & Asian America of the American Sociological Association
Recipient of the 2007 Chiyoko Doris’34 & Toshio Hoshide Distinguished Teaching Prize in Asian American Studies, UCLA

The Asian American Achievement Paradox (2015, co-authored with Lee)

Winner of the 2016 Outstanding Book Award on Asian America, Section on Asia & Asian America of the American Sociological Association
Winner of the 2016 Thomas and Znaniecki Award, Section on International Migration of the American Sociological Association
Winner of the 2016 Pierre Bourdieu Outstanding Book Award, Sociology of Education Section of the American Sociological Association
Winner of the 2017 Award for Best Book in the Social Sciences, Association for Asian American Studies
Recipient of Honorable Mention for the 2018 Outstanding Book Award, Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility Section of the American Sociological Association

Recipient of the 2017 Distinguished Career Award, Section on International Migration of the American Sociological Association

Recipient of the 2020 Contributions to the Field Award, Section on Asia & Asian America of the American Sociological Association

Research

Dr. Min Zhou’s main research interests include migration & development, ethnic and racial relations, immigrant entrepreneurship, education and the new second generation, the sociology of Asia & Asian America, and urban sociology.

Books

Dr. Min Zhou is the author of Chinatown (1992), The Transformation of Chinese America (2006 in Chinese), Contemporary Chinese America (2009); The Accidental Sociologist in Asian American Studies (2011); co-author of Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States (1998), The Asian American Achievement Paradox (2015), and The Rise of the New Second Generation (2016); editor of Contemporary Chinese Diasporas (2017), and Forever Strangers? Contemporary Chinese Immigrants around the World (2021); co-editor of Contemporary Asian America (2000, 2nd ed. 2007, 3rd ed. 2016), and Asian American Youth (2004).

Address

Department of Sociology, UCLA

264 Haines Hall, 375 Portola Plaza,

Box 951551, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1551

Phone: (310) 825-3532 | Fax: (310) 206-9838

mzhou@soc.ucla.edu