New Collections 2019-06-11

Dr. George C.Y. Chiou seated with daughter, Dr. Linda Epner
Dr. George C.Y. Chiou seated with daughter, Dr. Linda Epner

Dr. George C.Y. Chiou ophthalmology career publications and papers, MS 852

The collection consists of records, news coverage, and materials from the career of Regents Professor Emeritus Dr. George C. Y. Chiou. It includes a plaque on which is mounted a cover of the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology, Dr. Chiou having been the founding editor. There are also three bound volumes: the second edition of Ophthalmic Toxicology, edited by Dr. Chiou (1999); volume 20 of the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (2004); and The Vision of Innovation, The Challenge [sic] Story of New Drug Inventor and Entrepreneur George C. Y. Chiou (written in Chinese) (2015). 

Dr. George C. Y. Chiou was born in Taoyuan, Taiwan in 1934, and after earning B.S. and M.S. degrees at National Taiwan University, in 1964 he emigrated to the U. S. to pursue a doctoral degree in pharmacology at Vanderbilt University. His wife and two daughters remained in Taiwan for a year and a half but then joined him in Nashville. On completion of his doctoral degree, in 1969 he was hired by the medical school of the University of Florida as assistant professor of pharmacology. Then in 1978 Dr. Chiou was hired away from the University of Florida Medical School to be head of the Department of Medical Pharmacology at the Texas A & M University School of Medicine Health Science Center. To his teaching and research he added administrative duties, serving as assistant dean in 1985-86 and associate dean 1987 to 1990.

The focus of Dr. Chiou’s research has been the development of new drugs for eye diseases. It has resulted in approximately thirty patents and has been recognized with awards such as the 2006 Excellence in Research Award by the College of Medicine, Texas A & M Health Science Center and the 2007 Patent and Innovation Award by the Office of Technology Communication, Texas A & M System. The first of the treatments developed by Dr. Chiou was the use of D-timolol to treat glaucoma. Developing eyedrops for the delivery of insulin was another achievement, and it was followed by discovery of a drug compound, MC-1101, that can potentially treat and halt the progression of dry age-related macular degeneration. Dr. Chiou has had the support of the Texas A & M Office of Technology Commercialization to bring this product to market. The name of the resulting company is MacuCLEAR.

The bibliography of Dr. Chiou’s authored and co-authored papers includes 265 items. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, of which the 2004 volume is the twentieth. He was also the editor of two editions of Ophthalmic Toxicology, a book intended for a wide variety of readers in academia, industry, clinics, research laboratories, and government agencies.

In addition to his position in the College of Medicine at Texas A & M, between 1986 and 1995 Dr. Chiou also held adjunct professorships in the Center for Biotechnology and the Department of Ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. In recognition of his accomplishments, in 2011 he was promoted to Regents Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics of the College of Medicine at Texas A & M, and in 2015 he became Regents Professor Emeritus.

Screenshot of Dr. Chiou oral history

This collection also has a video oral history with Dr. Chiou.

Memorabilia Monday: Bowling Trophy

Chinese American Citizens Alliance Bowling Trophy (men), ca. 1960’s

Much of the memorabilia in the Archives remains there, waiting for interested scholars and community members to revisit them in the Woodson. Not this bowling trophy! It began as a prize for the bowling champ of two Texas chapters of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, one in Houston and one in San Antonio, trading communities during the 1960’s as different players won the trophy. It finally landed with the Houston chapter for good, and came to the Woodson as a part of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance records (MS 606.) When my colleagues Anne Chao,  Amanda Focke and I attend events to talk about the Houston Asian American Archives here at Rice we like to bring along the trophy as a fun example of of items collected to document the communities and their activities.

We encourage families to donate memorabilia, photos, correspondence, business records, oral histories, and more to document the history of Asian American citizens in Houston.  Our goal is to collect materials that scholars will use to tell more of the stories of the community; please let us know if you want to contribute.

HAAA in the News

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Fox 26, the local affiliate, did a story on the Houston Asian American Archive and the work of the Chao Center for Asian Studies in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Here is the link to the video.

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Dr. Edward C. M. Chen

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Dr. Anne Chao of the Chao Center

If you would like to learn more about our collections. Visit our Houston Asian American Archive research guide and Houston Asian American Archive oral histories, as well as our Zoroastrian community oral histories.

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Note: We realize that the Fox 26 video link may eventually be broken, which is why we have included a few screenshots. We’re sorry for any inconvenience.

Houston Asian American interviews online

Gene and Hedy Lee of Houston, Texas

A fascinating variety of oral history recordings featuring members of Houston’s Asian community are now available online.

These recordings form a collection of oral history interviews conducted by the Chao Center for Asian Studies at Rice University. This collection includes audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with Asian Americans native to Houston conducted by Chao Center staff and student interns in 2010.

This collection features the following Asian Americans native to Houston: Edward Chen, Esther Quan, Gene L. Lee, Lewis Yee, Jane Gee, George Gee, Viola Chan, Wea Lee, Eugenie Chen, and Hannah Chow. The interviewees include one of the first Asian Americans elected to office in Harris County, a former rocket scientist and high school chemistry teacher, a founding member of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, a World War II veteran, and the publisher of a Chinese newspaper in Texas and owner of the first Chinese printing company in Houston. Also included are several recording the KPFT “Echoes of China” radio program produced by Andy Lai, dating from 1980-1981.

Finding aid to Houston Asian American Archives oral history interviews collection is available at http://archives.library.rice.edu/repositories/2/resources/499.

See also:

Edward C.M. Chen Family Collection, 1920-2010, MS 561. Finding aid: http://archives.library.rice.edu/repositories/2/resources/487.

Gene & Hedy Lee Chinese language newspapers & photographs, 1962-2010, MS 556. Finding aid: http://archives.library.rice.edu/repositories/2/resources/482.