Tuan Nguyen and Paul Watanabe Selected for Census Bureau’s Asian Advisory Committee

Tuan Nguyen -- vice president for media relations for Media and Film 
Company, a prominent Vietnamese language entertainment production company 
-- has been selected by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to serve on the 
U.S. Census Bureau’s Advisory Committee on the Asian population. 

As a member of the nine-person committee, the Anaheim, Calif., resident 
will advise the Census Bureau on ways to achieve a more accurate count of 
the Asian population in the 2010 Census. 

“The Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees provide a continuing channel of 
communication between the Census Bureau and race and ethnic communities,” 
Census Bureau Acting Director Tom Mesenbourg said. “The committees play a 
vital role in ensuring that we make the best effort possible to reach race 
and ethnic groups, not only during the 2010 Census, but also the American 
Community Survey that is conducted throughout the decade.” 

Nguyen came to the United States in 1986 as a refugee from Vietnam. He 
lived in Seattle for 10 years before moving to California. He was vice 
president of the University of Washington’s Vietnamese Student Association 
and has contributed many articles on community issues to local Vietnamese 
media outlets throughout the years. 

Nguyen worked as a Census 2000 recruiting assistant and was vice 
chairman of the Vietnamese Complete Count Committee for Orange County, 
Calif., home of the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam. 

He is a member of the Las Vegas organizing committee to host Miss 
Vietnam Global, an annual beauty pageant event for Vietnamese communities 
around the world. He is a contributing writer to several major Vietnamese 
media outlets in Southern California, such as VietBao Daily News, Viet 
Weekly, Tre Magazine and Diem Magazine. He also serves on boards of 
director for several Vietnamese community-based organizations. 

Five race and ethnic advisory committees — African-American, American 
Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian and Other 
Pacific Islander —advise the Census Bureau on issues affecting minority 
populations. The committees are assembled from the public at large and 
representatives of national, state, local and tribal entities, as well as 
nonprofit and private sector organizations. Members of the committees are 
academicians, community leaders, policy makers and others interested in an 
accurate count for their communities. 

 

 

Paul Watanabe, director of the Institute for Asian American Studies and 
associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts 
Boston, has been selected by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to serve on 
the U.S. Census Bureau’s Advisory Committee on the Asian population. 

As a member of the nine-person committee, the South Weymouth, Mass., 
resident will advise the Census Bureau on ways to achieve a more accurate 
count of the Asian population in the 2010 Census. 

“The Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees provide a continuing channel of 
communication between the Census Bureau and race and ethnic communities,” 
Census Bureau Acting Director Tom Mesenbourg said. “The committees play a 
vital role in ensuring that we make the best effort possible to reach race 
and ethnic groups, not only during the 2010 Census, but also the American 
Community Survey that is conducted throughout the decade.” 

Watanabe’s principal research and teaching interests are in the areas of 
American political behavior, ethnic group politics, Asian-Americans and 
American foreign policy. He is the author of “Ethnic Groups, Congress, and 
American Foreign Policy: the Politics of the Turkish Arms Embargo” and 
principal author of “A Dream Deferred: Changing Demographics, Challenges, 
and New Opportunities for Boston.” He regularly contributes analysis and 
commentary to national and local television, radio, newspapers and 
magazines. 

He has served on several boards of nonprofit organizations, including 
the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Political 
Research Associates, the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence, the 
Harvard Community Health Plan, the Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative 
Fund, and the Asian American Policy Review. 

Watanabe was born in Murray, Utah. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 
political science from the University of Utah and master’s and doctorate 
degrees from Harvard University. 

Five race and ethnic advisory committees — African-American, American 
Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian and Other 
Pacific Islander — advise the Census Bureau on issues affecting minority 
populations. The committees are assembled from the public at large and 
representatives of national, state, local and tribal entities, as well as 
nonprofit and private sector organizations. Members of the committees are 
academicians, community leaders, policy makers and others interested in an 
accurate count for their communities.