Zhou is prized as a professor who weaves her own experiences as an immigrant and mother of an Asian American child into her teaching. Her peers in sociology and migration studies recognize her as an accomplished scholar.
By Peggy McInerny, Director of Communications
UCLA International Institute, April 29, 2022 — Min Zhou, UCLA distinguished professor of sociology and director of the
Asia Pacific Center of the International Institute, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is one of
11 UCLA faculty members named to the academy this spring as part of a
cohort of 261 new members.
Founded in 1780, the Academy is an honorary society that recognizes leaders from every field of human endeavor. Its members discover and advance knowledge and apply that knowledge to the problems of society.
“I was totally surprised by an email from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences President’s Office this morning about this amazing news!” said Zhou, who is also Walter and Shirley Wang Professor of U.S.–China Relations and Communications at UCLA.
“I am so thrilled, humbled and honored to be elected to the Academy and to be in the company of so many esteemed members of the Academy. It’s still unbelievable to me.
“This incredible honor means a lot to me and my family, who migrated to the U.S. with very little 38 years ago. I wouldn’t have made it without the unending support and encouragement of family and colleagues at UCLA and in the profession.”
Zhou joined UCLA in 1994 with a joint appointment in sociology and Asian American studies. Her research focuses on Chinese and Vietnamese migrant diasporas in the U.S., global migrant diaspora communities, race and ethnicity, and the sociology of Asian America. In 2007, she received the Chiyoko Doris’34 & Toshio Hoshide Distinguished Teaching Prize in Asian American Studies at UCLA.
Her contributions to the fields of sociology and migration studies have been recognized twice by the American Sociological Association (ASA). In 2020, she received the Contribution to the Field Award by the ASA Asia and Asian America Section, and in 2017, she received the Distinguished Career Award from the ASA Section on International Migration.
Recently, Zhou was selected for the inaugural class of the UCLA Mentoring Honor Society, which recognizes faculty members’ work in mentoring early- and mid-career colleagues on campus.
The celebrated sociologist, who publishes her works in English and Chinese, is the author of 19 books and more than 200 journal articles and book chapters. Her book, “
The Asian American Achievement Paradox” (with Lee/ Russell Sage Foundation Press, 2015), won numerous ASA book awards.
Her fascinating personal memoir about her childhood in China and how she became a sociologist and, ultimately, an Asian American expert, was published by the Asian American Studies Press (UCLA) in 2011: “
The Accidental Sociologist in Asian American Studies.”
Two of her edited works — “
Contemporary Asian America: A Multidisciplinary Reader” (with Ocampo/ NYU Press, 2016, 3rd ed.) and “
Asian American Youth” (with Lee/ Routledge, 2004) — have become standard readers in Asian American studies courses.
The International Institute congratulates Professor Zhou on becoming a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences — a fitting accomplishment for a prolific scholar.
Click here for a profile of Zhou and her scholarly work.
This article was updated to reflect up-to-date information on Professor Zhou's publications and honors, and to amend the use of an incorrect acronym.