Biographical Information

DON T. NAKANISHI is the Director of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and has a joint faculty appointment as a Professor in the Department of Asian American Studies of the UCLA College of Letters and Sciences and Professor of Social Sciences and Comparative Education in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. A political scientist by training (BA, Yale, 1971; PhD, Harvard, 1978, both in political science) he is the author of over 90 books, articles, and reports on the political participation of Asian Pacific Americans and other ethnic and racial groups in American politics; educational and social policy research; and the international political dimensions of minority experiences. His most recent book, which he co-authored with James Lai, is Asian American Politics: Law, Participation, and Policy.

Professor Nakanishi has received numerous awards for his scholarly achievements and public service, and is a highly sought out speaker. He has been a member of the board of directors for numerous national and local organizations, including the Poverty and Race Research Action Council, Board of Governors of the Association of Yale Alumni, Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association, Harvard University Graduate Alumni Council, Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance, Japanese American National Museum, the Universal Service Task Force, Asian American Justice Center and Altamed Health Care Services of East Los Angeles. He also served on the seven-member Board of Transportation Commissioners for the City of Los Angeles during Mayor Thomas Bradley's administration.

President Bill Clinton appointed Professor Nakanishi to the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund Board of Directors, which administered the nation-wide public education and research program that was established under the 1988 Civil Liberties Act that provided a national apology and reparations for the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in concentration camps during World War II. Both of Nakanishi's parents and older brother were among those who were interned.

A former national president of the Association of Asian American Studies, he also co-founded and served as publisher of Amerasia Journal, the top scholarly journal in the field of Asian American Studies, which was founded in 1971, and more recently co-founded AAPI Nexus: Asian American and Pacific Islander Policy, Practice, and Community Research. Recently, A. Magazine identified him as one of the "100 Most Influential Asian Americans in the United States during the Decade of the 1990s," and the Smithsonian Institution appointed him to a 25-member national Blue Ribbon Commission to plan for the future of the Smithsonian during the 21st century. He also has been featured in a number of publications, including Nicholas Lemann's The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy.

The UCLA Asian American Studies Center, founded in 1969, is the largest, most comprehensive, and renowned research, teaching, publications, library and archival collecting, and public educational institute focusing on the Asian Pacific American population in the nation. It has over 40 tenure track faculty specialists in Asian American Studies; offers over 70 undergraduate and graduate courses which annually attract 3,000 students; publishes Amerasia Journal and AAPI Nexus and other books and publications; and has the largest and most significant library and archival collections in the field. It also maintains active partnerships with community based organizations, civil rights groups, museums, libraries, and elected officials throughout California, across the nation, and in other parts of the world.

Professor Nakanishi was born and raised in East Los Angeles, California, and attended Theodore Roosevelt High School, where he was Student Body President. He is married to Dr. Marsha Hirano-Nakanishi, the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Analytical Studies for the California State University system. They have a son, Thomas, who is pursuing graduate studies at Harvard University.

Selected Publications

With James Lai and Daphne Kwok. National Asian Pacific American Political Almanac, 12th Edition. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 2005, 200 pages. (book)

With Angelo Ancheta and Jacinta Ma, "The Asian American Nexus to Civil Rights," AAPI Nexus, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2004, pp. iv-viii. (Also served as co-editor of the special issue on civil rights)

With Paul Ong, "To Serve, Help Build, and Analyze," AAPI Nexus, Vol 1, No. 1,  2003, pp. Iii-vi (Article)

With James Lai (eds). Asian American Politics: Law, Participation, and Policy. Boulder, CO: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2003. 474 pp. (book)

With Russell Leong (eds). Asian Americans on War and Peace. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press. 2002. 224 pp. (book)

With Ellen Wu. Distinguished Asian American Political and Governmental Leaders. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002. 229 pp. (book)

With Andrew Aoki (eds). "Asian Americans and Politics," Special Symposium, PS (publication of the American Political Science Association), Vol. XXXIV, Number 3, September 2001, pp. 602-644.

"Beyond Electoral Politics: Renewing A Search for a Paradigm of Asian Pacific American Politics," in Gordon Chang (ed), Asian Americans and Politics: Perspectives, Experiences, Prospects. Washington, D.C. : Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Stanford University Press, 2001, pp. 102-132. (Article)

With James Lai (eds). National Asian Pacific American Political Almanac, 10th Edition. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 2001. 307 pages. (book)

"Moving the Historical Moment Forward," in Steve Louie and Glenn Omatsu (eds). Asian Americans: The Movement and the Moment. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Press, 2001, pp. viii-x. (Article)

With Andrew Aoki (eds). "Asian Pacific Americans and The New Minority Politics," Special Symposium, PS, Vol. XXXIV, No. 3, 2001, pp. 605-644. (Article and journal section)

"Political Trends and Electoral issues of the Asian Pacific American Population," in Neil Smelser, William Julius Wilson, and Faith Mitchell (eds). America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2000, pp. 170-197 (Article).

"A Bright Light of Revelation," in Peter Liebhold and Harry R. Rubinstein (eds). Between A Rock and a Hard Place: A History of American Sweatshops, 1820-Present. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance, 1999, pp. vii.

"When Numbers Do Not Add Up: Asian Americans and California Politics," in Michael Preston, Bruce Cain and Sandra Bass (eds.) Ethnic and Racial Politics in California. Volume Two. Berkeley, CA: Institute of Governmental Studies, 1998. pp. 3-43. (Article)

"When the 'Spin' Is Out of Control: Asian Pacific Americans After the November 1996 Elections," in Don Nakanishi and James Lai (eds). National Asian Pacific American Political Almanac. Eighth Edition. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 1998, pp. 8-11.

"Linkages and Boundaries," Amerasia Journal, Vol. 21, no. 3, Winter 1995/1996, pp. xvii-xxv. (Article)

(with Paul Ong) "Becoming Citizens, Becoming Voters: The Naturalization and Political Participation of Asian Immigrants," in Bill Hing, et al. (eds.) Reframing the Immigration Debate. Los Angeles: LEAP and UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 1996, pp. 275-305. (Article).

"Politics and Demographics: The New Asian Pacific American Student Population," in Affirmative Action and Discrimination: Asian and Pacific Americans in Higher Education. San Francisco, CA: Asian and Pacific Americans in Higher Education, 1996, pp. 23-30.

With Tina Yamano Nishida (eds). The Asian Pacific American Educational Experience: A Sourcebook for Teachers and Students. New York: Routledge, 1995. 404 pp. (Book)

"Asian Pacific Americans in Colleges and Universities," in James A. Banks and Cherry A. McGee Banks (eds.). Handbook on Research on Multicultural Education. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1995, pp. 683-695. (Article)

"Transforming Asian Pacific America: The Challenges of Growth and Diversity of Asian Pacific Migrants and Citizens in the United States," in Asia-Pacific Migration Journal, Vol. 3, nos. 2-3, 1994, pp. 497-509. (Article)

"Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education: Faculty and Administrative Representation and Tenure," New Directions for Teaching and Learning, Vol. 53, 1993, pp. 51-59. (Article)

"Broad Outlines for Asian America in the 1990s," Asian American Policy Review, Vol. 3, 1993, pp. 73-77. (article)

With Stewart Kwoh, Jai Hwa Lee, and Casimiro Tolentino. "Finding Ways to Salve Intergroup Sore Points," Asian American Pacific Islands Law Journal, Vol. 1, 1993, pp. 87-88 (Article)

With J.D. Hokoyama. "The State of Asian Pacific America," in The State of Asian Pacific America: Policy Issues to the Year 2020. Los Angeles: LEAP Asian Pacific American Public Policy Institute and UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 1993, pp. xiii-xiv. (Preface)

"Surviving Democracy's 'Mistake': Japanese Americans and Executive Order 9066," Amerasia Journal, Vol. 19, 1993, pp. 7-35 (Article)

Guest Editor, Japanese American Internment: 50th Anniversary Issue. Amerasia Journal, Vol. 19, 1993. (Journal).

"Japanese Americans," in Gen Itasaka (ed.) Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Tokyo, Japan: Kodansha International, 1993, pp. 661-664. (Article)

"Preface," in Maisie and Richard Conrat (eds.), Executive Order 9066: The Internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 1992, pp. 10-12. (Preface)

"The Next Swing Vote? Asian Pacific Americans and California Politics," in Byran Jackson and Michael Preston (eds.). Racial and Ethnic Politics in California. Berkeley: Institute for Governmental Studies, 1991, pp. 25-54 . (Article)

With Halford H. Fairchild, Luis Ortiz-Franco, and Lenore A. Stiffarm (eds).. Discrimination and Prejudice: An Annotated Bibliography. San Diego: Westerfield, Inc., 1991, 312 pp. (Book)

"Why I Fought," Amerasia Journal, Vol. 16, no. 1, 1990, pp. 139-158.

"Asian Pacific Americans and Adult Education: The Social and Political Resocialization of a Diverse Minority, Immigrant, and Refugee Population," in Beverly Cassara (ed.) Adult Education in Multicultural A Society. London: Routledge, 1990, pp. 119-144.

"An Emerging Electorate: The Political Education of Asian Pacific Americans," in Asian American Policy Review, Vol. 1, 1990. pp. 15-27. (Article)

"A Quota on Excellence? The Debate on Asian American Admissions," Change, November/December 1989, pp. 38-47. (Article)

"Asian Americans and American Politics," in Hyung-chan Kim (ed.)The Dictionary of Asian American History. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986, pp. 61-66. (Article)

The UCLA Asian Pacific American Voter Registration Study. Los Angeles: Southern California Asian Pacific American Legal Center, 1986. 78 pp. (Monograph)

"Asian American Politics: An Agenda for Research," Amerasia Journal, Vol. 12, no. 2, 1986, pp. 1-27. (Article)

"The Untapped Recruiters: Minority Alumni and Undergraduate Admissions," Journal of College Admissions, vol. 112, Summer 1986, pp. 15-19. (Article)

With Marsha J. Hirano-Nakanishi (eds). The Education of Asian Americans: Historical Perspectives and Prescriptions for the Future. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1983, 150 pp. (Book)

"The National Asian American Roster, 1978: A Listing of Asian American Elected Officials at the Federal, State, and Local Levels," in Yung-Hwan Jo (ed.) Political Participation of Asian Americans: Problems and Strategies. Chicago: Pacific/Asian American Mental Health Research Center, 1980, pp. 156-76. )Article). The first of ten political rosters and almanacs on Asian Americans.

Can It Happen Again? The Impact of the Holocaust and Evacuation on the Political Thinking of American Jewish and Japanese American Leaders. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Government, Harvard University, 1978. (Dissertation)

"Toward the Second Decade: A National Survey of Asian American Studies Programs in l978," Amerasia Journal, Vol. 5, no. 1, 1978, pp. 1-20. (Article)

"Minorities and International Politics," in Emma Gee (ed.) Counterpoint: Contemporary Perspectives in Asian American Studies. Los Angeles, CA: Regents of the University of California and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 1976, pp. 44-46. (Article)

"Japanese Americans in the City of Smog," Akira Iriye (ed.). Mutual Images: Essays in American-Japanese Relations. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1975, pp. 223-257. (Article)

In Search of a New Paradigm: Minorities in the Context of International Politics. Denver, CO: University of Denver, Center for International Race Relations, Studies in Race and Nations, 1975, 36 pp. (Monograph)

Interview with Warren Furutani," Amerasia Journal, Vol. 1, March 1971, pp. 70-76. (Interview)