About > Advisory Board > Harold M. Fong

Advisory Board Profile

Harold M. Fong

Harold M. Fong (1938-1995) served as a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Tin-Yuke and Wai Jane Char Asian-Pacific Study Room from 1991 until his untimely passing in 1995.

For over twenty years, he was a powerful presence in the federal courts, first in the U.S. Attorney's Office from 1969 to 1978, and then as a judge, beginning in 1982 after four years in private practice, until 1995. He was chief judge of the U.S. District Court from 1984-1991. As a prosecutor or judge, he was involved in several famous federal court cases in Hawaii.

Judge Fong graduated ftom the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan Law School. He clerked for the State Supreme Court, and was a deputy city prosecutor before beginning his federal legal career.

Judge Fong's father was a Chinese laundryman who, with only an eighth-grade education, transformed his earnings from a laundry in Honolulu's Chinatown into a position of respect and influence in Hawaii's financial and insurance industries. In 1973, "60 Minutes" featured Judge Fong and his father as examples of successful Chinese-Americans of immigrant ancestry.

Highly regarded by his peers as tough but fair, and a man to whom the Char Board looked for counsel and guidance, Judge Fong is sorely missed.