Yue-him Tam
A naturalized U.S. citizen, Yue-him Tam was born in China and educated in Hong Kong (CUHK),
Japan (Kyoto U) and the United States. He received his Ph.D. in
East Asian History from Princeton University (1975), specializing in
modern Japanese history and Sino-Japanese relations. Since 1990, he has been
Professor of History at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. For many years he also
served as Director of the Programs of Japan Study & East Asian Studies at
Macalester. Before joining Macalester, he was a senior faculty and
administrator (college dean of general education & dean of students) at the
Chinese U of Hong Kong for 19 years, in addition to visiting positions at
Nanjing U (China), U of Tokyo (Japan), U of Chicago (US), York U (Canada), Bowdoin College (US) and other institutions.
Tam has published widely on modern
Japanese history and Sino-Japanese relations in English, Chinese and
Japanese. To date, he has authored,
edited and translated more than fifteen books and sixty articles. Among his
latest publications is the two volume Encyclopedia
of Sino-Japanese Relations (in Chinese) (Shenyang,
China: Liaohai Press, 1999, totaling 2,000+ pages),
the very first of its kind. He has received research and publication grants
from such major foundations as the National Endowment for the Humanities (Washington, DC), Japan Foundation (Tokyo) and Chang Ching-kuo International Academic Exchange Foundation (Taipei).
Tam’s professional service includes
Advisory Board of The Journal of
the East Asian Library at Princeton U (Princeton, US), Chinese Association for
Sino-Japanese Studies (Beijing), Chinese Association for
Japanese Historical Studies (Tianjin) and Center for Studies of
Sexual Slavery in China by Imperial Japan (Shanghai). For a few years, he
chaired the Committee on East Asian Studies, overseeing curricular cooperation
regarding Asia in the consortium of five independent colleges (Augsberg,
Hamline, Macalester, St. Catherine & St. Thomas) in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Recently he is appointed
to the editorial board of the 32 volume series entitled Complete Work on the Nanjing Massacre to be published by the
Nanjing U Press, China.
Tam is active in social service. He
has served on the governing boards and committees in Hong Kong Examination Authority, Japan
Society of Hong Kong, Minnesota Chinese Music Ensemble, and Organization of
Chinese Americans of Minnesota. Among his recent services was his experience as
president (1998-2000) of the Global Alliance for Preserving the History of
World War II in Asia (GA), a federation of 40 some scholarly and grassroots
organizations worldwide committed to safeguarding humanity, justice and
peace. In Minnesota he served in the Organizing
Committee of the first Hun Qiao [Bridge of Souls] Conference on war crimes
and reconciliation in Asia held at the University of Minnesota in 2001 and was appointed
historian to the video documentary on the Hun Qiao
Concert with Yoyo Ma premiered in St. Paul in 2001.
Tam has been invited to speak by
scholarly institutions and grassroots organizations in China, Japan, Canada, Holland, and the United States. Among his latest hosts are Simon Weisenthal Center (Los Angeles, 1998), the
Foreign Correspondent Club (Tokyo, 1999), Foundation of Japanese Honorary Debts (the Hague, 2000), and Nanjing U (Nanjing, 2001). Tam’s biography can
be found in Who’s Who in the World (Chicago, 1983), Who’s Who in Japanology (in Japanese) (Tokyo, 1984) and Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary
Chinese Historians (in Chinese) (Xian, China, 1994). Postal Address: 1600 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105; Tel: 651-696-6262; Fax:
651-552-7028; E-Mail: tam@macalester.edu.