Standing Committee Chairs
Duties of the Standing Committee Chairs are given in AAUC Bylaws Article IV
Board Development Committee Chair – Thomas Abraham (CT)
Dr. Thomas Abraham is the Founder President and currently serves as the Chairman of
the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO). Dr. Abraham has been
serving the Indian American community for the last 48 years. He served as the first
president of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) of New York and the National
Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA). Other than these organizations, two
other groups initiated by Dr. Abraham are National Indian American Association for
Senior Citizens (NIAASC) and South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS) and co-
founded Indian American Kerala Center. In 2008, Dr. Abraham was recognized by
President of India with Overseas Indian Honor Award. Dr. Abraham has Also been
recognized with Lifetime Achievement Award for community service by India Abroad,
American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin and Indo-American Press Club and was
honored as the Father of the Community by Excel Foundation in 2021.
A graduate of Columbia University, Dr. Abraham is a materials scientist and
nanotechnologist by profession and is President of Innovative Research and Products,
Inc., an industry, technology and market research firm based in Stamford, CT, USA..
Constitution & Bylaws Committee Chair – Steven Pei (TX)
Steven Pei -Dr. Steven Pei was born in Guilin and grew up in Taiwan. He joined the faculty of the University of Houston in 1994 as a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering to lead the NASA Wake Shield Facility (WSF) program, which was the major payload on three Space Shuttle flight in the 90’s. He served as the Associate Dean of Engineering for Research and leadership roles at several research centers including the NASA Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center, Texas Center for Advanced Materials and Superconductivity, Center for Advanced Materials and is now the Executive Director of the Southwest Public Safety Technology Center. His research group has spun off several high-tech start-up companies. He co-founded the Houston 80-20 PAC in 2000 and was the founding Chair of the United Chinese Americans. Prior to joining academia, he was a department head at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ.
Strategic Development Committee Chair – Peter Nguyen
Peter Nguyen is the president of FAPAC with a mission to share an interest in the advancement of Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) employees in the Federal/DC government and the military Organization. FAPAC is the oldest and largest AAPI Affinity for the Federally employed Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). It is a nationally recognized organization that serves as a conduit through which the interests, issues, and representation of AAPI in the Federal, State, County, City and District of Columbia governments are addressed. FAPAC promotes partnerships with the public and private sectors in the community it serves. It works with AAUC to form partnership and support to meet FAPAC mission including sponsorship from AAUC during the FAPAC annual National Leadership Training Program in the month of May that coincides with celebrations the Asian Pacific Americans Heritage (APAH) month.
Ethics Committee Chair Anthony “Tony” Nakazawa (AK)
Anthony “Tony” Nakazawa is member of AAUC 2018 Organizing Committee for the inaugural meeting in Alaska. He was a Board Member of 80-20 PAC. He is Professor Emeritus, University of Alaska, retired in 2018 as Professor of Economics, UAF School of Natural Resources and Extension. He has a Ph.D. from the University of California Berkeley, School of Agriculture and Natural Resources; MA from the University of California, Santa Barbara; and BA from the University of Hawaii, Manoa Campus. Former President of Alaska Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. Former member of Alaska Asian Cultural Center – Japanese Community representative.
Education Program & Conference Committee Chair – Juwairyah Syed (VA)
Juwairyah Syed is graduate of Johns Hopkins University, with a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Human Genetics and Education. A native of Virginia, Juwairyah was raised in Saudi Arabia and Virginia. She moved to Portland, Oregon in 2018 to work at Muslim Educational Trust as Director of STEM Education. It is her life-long mission to cultivate the appreciation and the love of STEM education within her students especially her female students. Along with her twin sister, Nowairah Syed, Juwairyah is co-founder of a nonprofit organization, Project Imagination, whose aim is to bring STEM education to young women in Pakistan, through coding and robotics workshops. Juwairyah also serves on the AAUC board as a member of Board of Governors. When Juwairyah is not teaching Robotics or Science she loves to travel and has been over 90 countries across the globe and plans on traveling to all 195 one day.
Public Relationship Chair – Munsup Seoh
Dr. Munsup – received his B.S. (1970) and M.S. (1975) in Mathematics at Sogang University in Seoul, Korea.Full Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Wright State University. Member of the American Statistical Association (ASA) Committee on Minorities in Statistics from 2003-2009. Involved member with American Scientist and Engineers Association, Korean American University Professors Association and Phi Beta International Honor Society for International Education. VP-Membership, Executive Committee.
Public Policy and Advocacy Committee Chair – Jack Hanna (OR)
Jack Hanna is a 3rd generation Syrian-American, retired as a Pennsylvania attorney after 40 years, now resides in Portland, Oregon since 2018. He has been active in Democratic Party politics for over 35 years having served as the PA State Party’s Treasurer for 5 years and its Chair for 6 months and continue to serve as a member of Oregon’s State Central Committee. He attended the last 7 Democratic National Conventions, in the most recent one as an elected Biden delegate. He was a founding organizer of an immigrant and refugee advocacy organization in Pennsylvania called the “Refugee Working Group”. Currently, supports that same work in Portland as a Board member of the “New Portland Foundation”.
Membership Committee Chair – Rajeev Singh
Rajeev Singh – Rajeev Singh is a co-coordinator for the northern California chapter of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF). He is also a member of the National Leadership Council at HAF.Rajeev is passionate about cultivating engagement in the community and building a vibrant and respectful environment for people of all backgrounds. On behalf of HAF he is actively engaged at local levels in advisory and fundraising, communications, and coalition building roles. Rajeev is also the convenor of Coalition for Civic Engagement (CCE), which strives to increase the participation of Asian American voices in the institutions of our representative democracy.