Erika Lee is a historian and author. She is currently the inaugural Bae Family Professor of History at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, a position she began in July 2023. In addition, she is still active as an award-winning author, known for her non-fiction work upon the subjects of immigration and Asian American history in America. Previously, she was the Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair and Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Early life and education

Lee is the granddaughter of Chinese immigrants, growing up in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. Lee attended

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

before continuing her studies at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where she earned an M.A. in 1993 and a PhD in 1998.

Career

Erika Lee served as the director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Minnesota throughout 2003-2006, in addition to directing the Asian Studies Program (2009-2012), and the Immigration History Research Center and Archives(2012). During her time at the University of Minnesota, she has also founded, written and edited for multiple online humanities projects that include but are not limited to: Immigrants in COVID America, Immigrant Stories, and the #ImmigrationSyllabus. Recently, Erika Lee has accepted the position of the inaugural Bae Family Professor of History at Harvard University in 2023. As an author, Erika Lee is noted to have written five non-fiction books, for which she has received multiple awards such as the American Book Award and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. Her most recent work is ''Made in Asian America: A History for Young People (2024),'' cowritten with Newberry-award winning author Christina Soontornvat.

Published works

Books

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Contributions

* Lee, Erika (2011). "Chapter 1: A Nation of Immigrants and a Gatekeeping Nation: American Immigration Law and Policy" In Reed, Ueda (eds.). ''A companion to American immigration''. Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell. . * * *

Journal articles

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Awards

* 2015 Immigrant Heritage Award in Education from the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation * 2016

Asian Pacific American Librarians Association The Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), also known as the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association,Yamashita, Kenneth A.(2000), Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association— A History of APALA and Its Founders, Library Tr ...

Awards for ''The Making of Asian America: a History'' * 2018 Andrew Carnegie Fellowship * 2018 Distinguished Historian Award from the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era * 2018 Distinguished Lecturer in the Organization of American Historians * 2019 Honoree of the Richard Frisbie Award from the Society of Midland Authors. * 2020

American Book Awards The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...

References

External links

Faculty Page – University of MinnesotaErika Lee Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Erika University of Minnesota faculty Academics from San Francisco University of California, Berkeley alumni American women historians American women academics American Book Award winners Historians from California American writers of Chinese descent