Amanda Manorot (she/her/hers)

Lao American

I am a recent (2020) medical graduate and will be a resident physician in obstetrics and gynecology.  

My mother and father are Lao refugees who rebuilt their lives after enduring significant trauma caused by the Vietnam war. My father, a doctor, and descent of the Lao Royal family was captured by the communist party and sent to a re-education camp for 10 years before he escaped and his sister was able to sponsor his arrival to the U.S. My mother came to the U.S. separately and resettled in San Diego before moving to Iowa when she married my dad. The challenges they endured were hidden as they devoted their lives to creating a home filled with love and warmth so I could flourish in the American dream. 

A challenge I faced growing up as Lao American in Des Moines was the pressure to represent all Asian American cultures. There is immense diversity between so many countries in Asia and I was often asked to teach others how to use chopsticks, how to pronounce “pho”, and explain the origin of fortune cookies, all subjects unrelated to my Lao heritage. The pressure to assimilate, conform, and belong was real. 

My move to Stanford, California for undergrad and gap years spent in San Francisco was the first time I began to understand the rich diversity within Asian American cultures. I realized many of our stories could be presumed as the same, however, there are incredible nuances between them all. I realize who I am, my story, and my Asian American identity is unique. I am Iowa born and raised with midwest values while on the outside I present as another Asian American female. My identity is shaped by all of my experiences and the people that continue to shape them. I am proud to continue increasing Lao American representation in the medical profession.

Bharati Mukherjee (1940-2017) - Renowned Writer

Born in Calcutta, India, in 1940, Mukherjee came to University of Iowa in 1961 to study with the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1963 and continued her studies to earn at Ph.D. in comparative literature in 1969. Mukherjee received the National Book Critics Circle Award for her work - The Middleman and Other Stories. Her 1989 novel “Jasmine” is the tale of a poor Punjabi immigrant who makes her way to Iowa and takes on a new identity as she moves from job to job.

Wang Shizhen (王世真) (1916–2016) - Nuclear Medicine Scientist

Dr. Wang Shizhen is known as a pioneer and founder of China’s nuclear medicine. Dr. Wang Shizhen was born in Chiba, Japan on March 7, 1916; but his family is from Fuzhou, Fujian. Dr. Wang transferred to the University of Iowa and studied nuclear medicine. In 1948, Dr. Wang earned his doctor’s degree at the University of Iowa, and stayed to research radioactive nuclide compounds. Dr. Wang went back to China in 1951, and progressed the field of nuclear medicine in China. 

http://www.tuef.tsinghua.edu.cn/info/Tsinghua%20Spotlights/1692

Kimiko Hahn (1955-Present) Poet

Kimiko Hahn was born in New York to a Japanese American mother from Hawai’i and a German American father from Wisconsin. She received a bachelor’s degree in English and East Asian studies with a certificate in creative writing from the University of Iowa.  Hahn’s work explores Asian American female desire and subjectivity. Hahn’s work, the Unbearable Heart, received an American Book Award.