Welcome to May! The pollen is clearing, flowers are in bloom, and I’m back to share more archival images from the Emilio Segrè Visual Archives (ESVA). This time, we’re celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! This month is also known as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, or AAPI Heritage Month.
The theme set by the Federal Asian Pacific American Council for 2024 is Advancing Leaders through Opportunity, and what better leaders to spotlight than the physical scientists who have helped redefine our understanding of the world around us?
The umbrella of AAPI captures a very diverse and wide-ranging group of people, languages, and cultures. It encompasses any person with ancestry in East and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. But that’s not where it ends—there’s also a diversity of fields of study, occupation, and accolades within the AAPI community. In this list you’ll find a Manhattan Project scientist, multiple Nobel Prize laureates, activists, professors, and a former United States Secretary of Energy.
Without further ado, let’s celebrate Asian Pacific American scientists with some archival images!