In Memoriam: Judy Yung, 1946-2020

Judy Yung, emerita professor of American studies, author, and scholar of Chinese American history at the University of California, Santa Cruz, died on December 14, 2020, from complications resulting from a fall in her home. She was 74 years old.

A native of San Francisco, Dr. Yung was the daughter of Chinese immigrants. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature and Chinese language from what is now San Francisco State University. She earned a master of library science degree and a  Ph.D. in ethnic studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

After working as a librarian. Dr. Yung was hired by the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1990 to establish an Asian studies program. She taught there until her retirement in 2004.

Professor Yung was co-author of the landmark book, Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America (Oxford University Press, 2010), the official publication commemorating the 100th anniversary of Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay. The book offers a comprehensive history of West Coast immigration policies that excluded Asians and barred them from becoming naturalized citizens. She was also the author of Unbound Voices: A Documentary History of Chinese Women in San Francisco (University of California Press, 1999).

Bettina Aptheker, a colleague of Dr. Yung at the University of California, Santa Cruz stated that she “was a brilliant teacher, inspiring her students, and mentoring scores of them. She was an outstanding scholar, and her published works provided us with some of the most important historical material on Chinese and Chinese American women’s history.”