Current Board Members

Richard Cheu (Biological Sciences, undergrad research fellow, ’59, first term) is a PhD candidate in world history at St. Johns University in New York City. His dissertation is titled The Hidden History of San Francisco’s Chinatown during the Chinese Exclusion Era: 1882-1968. He is a New York Public Library Scholar and a lecturer on Chinese American history at universities, libraries, and museums across the U.S. Richard is a neuroscientist, CEO, and founder of Aerobics for Eyes, LLC, his second startup, and has received a U.S. patent for a method of improving mental agility. He is a former New Jersey volunteer fire department captain and EMT, an ordained Catholic deacon at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and a New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Chaplain. He previously served as president of the Northwestern Alumni Club of New York and New Jersey.

Katie Gu (BA in English, BS in Biology, ’18, MS in Bioengineering, ’19, first term), Vice President, is a second generation Chinese-American and is serving her first term on the SAPAAC board. Professionally, she is an associate at a Palo Alto law firm representing biotech startups and entrepreneurs. Having recently moved back to the Bay Area, Katie is excited to reconnect with her local alumni communities and contribute to advocacy efforts advancing Asian American issues.

Alex Hou (BA in International Relations, ‘22, first term) is an investment analyst for a family office, splitting time between Toronto and New York. As a student, he was very active at A3C, along with being a chair of the Stanford Axe Committee (AxeComm), the school spirit club at Stanford. Outside of work, he currently serves on the Stanford Young Alumni Philanthropy Council (YAPC) and is an OVAL interviewer. Alex enjoys attending SAPAAC events, volunteering for the university, and watching all the Stanford sports games.

Julie Hsieh (BA in Human Biology, ’98, first term) is a family physician turned artist and founder of Yuan Ru Gallery in Taipei and Bellevue. She is the past president of Stanford Club of Taiwan (2020-2023) and excited to continue her involvement with Stanford and advocacy for Asian Americans through SAPAAC. She also serves on the board of Stanford Club of Washington and is an OVAL interviewer. She is currently based in the Seattle area.

Andrew Jabara (BA ’18, MS ’19, first term), Events Chair, has remained heavily involved in the Stanford alumni community, including membership in the Young Alumni Philanthropy Council (YAPC) and SIEPR Young Associates, serving as an OVAL interviewer, and co-chairing his 5th reunion Planning and Campaign committees. He’s also been active in building pan-Asian coalitions, from expanding and leading Asian Alliance employee resource groups at ZS Associates and LinkedIn to setting up the Bay Area chapter of Asians & Allies in Tech. Andrew enjoys hosting waffle weekend brunches, attending arts & music events, and finding interesting “hidden gem” experiences.

Jean J Kim (BA in English, BS in Biology ’95, first term) is serving her first term on the SAPAAC board and has been involved in the Stanford Asian and alumni community serving as President of KASA at Stanford, OVAL interviewer and member of her 30th Reunion Committee. Professionally, she was focused on biotech investing and recently transitioned to writing, sustainability, and doing right for the next generation. In her free time, she enjoys trying out new restaurants and learning how to surf and play pickleball. She currently lives in Honolulu.

Christian Yongwhan Lim (BS in CS & Math ’11, MS in CS ‘13, first term) is VP of Engineering at Arklex AI, where he built the company’s open-source Agent-First Organization framework, powering enterprise-grade AI agents with integrations across Shopify, HubSpot, and RAG pipelines. He has shaped Arklex’s engineering culture from the ground up, mentoring developers and refining startup hiring practices. Outside of Arklex, Christian is an Adjunct at Columbia University, coaching the ICPC programming team and leading global initiatives in algorithmic learning. He also serves as Director of Internships for the ICPC Foundation. Previously, he worked at Two Sigma and Google, and conducted PhD research at MIT on networks, optimization, and game theory.

Jin Park (BA in Economics, ’91, second term) is an adjunct professor at USC Gould School of Law and UCLA School of law, where she teaches contract law. In her private practice, she has served as outside counsel to USC as well as internet start-ups. Jin serves as a mentor through the Stanford FLI program and is a member of various Stanford alumni groups in Southern California.   

Katie Gee Salisbury (BA in Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, ’07, MA in Sociology, ’08, second term), currently serving as SAPAAC’s Board President, is a writer and photographer whose work explores Asian American identity and history. She is the author of Not Your China Doll, a biography of Anna May Wong, published by Dutton in 2024. She is a member of SAPAAC’s Advocacy & Education committee, working on ways to hold the university accountable for acknowledging the historical contributions of Chinese laborers on campus. A fifth-generation Chinese American who hails from Southern California, she lives in Brooklyn.

Risa Shimoda (BS in Product Design Engineering, ’77, second term), Treasurer, has been a very active alumni volunteer, serving as president for five regional alumni clubs and as a member of the Stanford Alumni Association Board of Directors and Stanford Associates. She helped as one of the leaders for the inaugural Voices Rising 2017 Summit and hopes to continue to strengthen connectivity in our alumni and student community and become a recognized voice for AAPI issues to and among peer organizations around the world.