The Juanita Tamayo Lott Endowment in Asian American Studies
Juanita Tamayo Lott established the Juanita Tamayo Lott Endowment in Asian American Studies to center federal public policy in education and calls to action for our students and broader community. She states, "To a significant degree, students, faculty, and the general American public no longer understand and appreciate civics and the institutional powers and checks and balances of the federal executive, legislative and judicial branches. The distinct role of federal public policy is blurred with other public, the nonprofit, and corporate sectors. Yet, these latter sectors are not accountable to the American people nor do they defend the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Providing support through the establishment of these funds the Asian American Studies Program and UMD, strategically situated near the nation's capital, have the timely opportunity to address this gap by nurturing students and the broader community to effectively understand and engage in federal public policy of, for, and by the people."
The purpose of this funding is to bring UMD/Asian American Studies and the broader community together to better understand and appreciate the distinctive role of public policy across the federal executive, legislative and judicial branches. The goal is to stimulate civic engagement and encourage careers in federal service.
These funds will provide programmatic support for activities related to federal public policy in Asian American Studies in the Office of Undergraduate Studies. We are excited and grateful to Juanita Tamayo Lott for her generosity and investment in Asian American Studies.
About Juanita
Juanita Tamayo Lott has lectured and written on demographic changes for over 40 years for both public and scholarly audiences in the United States and abroad. After a Ph.D. fellowship at the University of Chicago, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she married fellow graduate student Robert H. Lott; raised a family; and built a career in the federal statistical system. From 1974 until 1977, she directed the first and only Office of Asian American Affairs, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
She retired from federal service in 2008 after holding senior statistician, demographer, policy analyst and management positions with the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and the Committee on National Statistics, the National Academy of Sciences.
Lott’s published works include Golden Children, Legacy of Ethnic Studies, SF State, Eastwind Books of Berkeley (2018); “Race, Ethnic and Gender Bias in Educational Statistics,” International Encyclopedia of Education (co-author, 2010); “Population Shifts and Demographic Methods” with Matthew Snipp, Journal of Official Statistics (February 2009); Spotlight on Heterogeneity: The Federal Standards for Racial and Ethnic Classification edited with Barry Edmonston and Joshua Goldstein, National Academy Press (1996); and The Asian American Almanac, contributing editor, Gale Research, Inc. (1995). The Juanita Tamayo Lott Collection resides in The Library of Congress. She is a founding donor for the Major General (Army. retired) Antonio M Taguba Profiles in Courage and Leadership Scholarship, UMD, the James A Hirabayashi Person for All Seasons Scholarship, San Francisco State University, and the video series, "Distilled Demographics" for millennial leaders worldwide, Population Reference Bureau, Washington, D.C. Lott is in the San Francisco State University Alumni Hall of Fame.
Past Events
Equity through numbers: A Conversation with Robert Santos, Director, U.S. Census Bureau
Monday, November 7, 2022, 5:30 - 6:30PM
The Robert H. Smith School of Business and the Asian American Studies Program welcomed Robert Santos, Director, U.S. Census Bureau, to the University of Maryland! Director Santos shared his journey to becoming the first person of color to receive Senate confirmation to lead the federal government's largest statistical agency. Director Santos also shared his perspective on the role of data in ensuring political representation and equitable federal funding around the United States. The opening introduction was made by Dr. Georgina Dodge, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at UMD.
This program was also supported by the Juanita Tamayo Lott Endowment in Asian American Studies; US Latino/a/x Studies; Federal Fellows Programs at UMD; the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Outreach Group of the American Statistical Association; and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI).
Federal Careers for the Public Good
Monday, March 14, 2022, 5:00pm - 6:30pm
Federal, state, county and local governments provide essential services and work products that you and your community rely upon every day, including safe food and drinking water, paved roads, and the statistical data that helps us to understand our economy. Many talented, dedicated and community service-oriented people work in these government entities, and maybe you can be one of them!
This panel discussion will explore how you can get, keep, and get promoted at a federal government job. Participants will be from both the civilian and military sectors, with experience in scientific, statistical, business, social science and other disciplines. A special focus will be the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in federal service, and how they have used the stability of federal jobs to do good for their communities and for the nation as a whole.
Panelists: Mayumi Hairston Escalante, Terp and Partnership Specialist at the US Census Bureau; Terri Ann Lowenthal, former Staff Director of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Census, Statistics, and Postal Personnel; Priya Joy Rathnam, Terp and Division Director at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Major General Antonio (Tony) Taguba, Retired US military; and moderated by Phil Tajitsu Nash, AAST Adjunct Faculty and previous Curator at the Smithsonian Institution.
Asian Americans and Election 2020
Thursday, Sep 17, 2020, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Where will Asian American voter turnout make the most impact this year? How do Asian Americans feel about the candidates? Join Christine Chen, Executive Director of APIAVote, in conversation with Prof. Janelle Wong for a webinar on Asian Americans and the 2020 Presidential Election. They will discuss new survey data on Asian American presidential vote choice, issue priorities, and attitudes toward race, immigration, affirmative action and other important topics.
Day of Remembrance: BLM and JLA
Monday, Feb 22, 2021, 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Japanese Latin Americans (JLA) just won a major victory at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and are seeking redress for World War II-era injustices. African Americans and the diverse Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement made major advances last year in their efforts to redress over 400 years of injustices. How can these groups and others work together to achieve their goals?
Panelists: Dr. Jerome Reide, civil rights attorney; Grace Shimizu, Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project; Aniya Butler, human rights activist; Law-rel Butler, human rights activist; and Phil Tajitsu Nash, UMD Asian American Studies Program.