Educating Younger Generations About the Past

A third-generation Chinese American, Dr. Stephen Chun has had a lifelong interest in exploring his cultural heritage. As a very young child, he took Chinese language lessons from his maternal grandmother in her Chinese school class. While an undergraduate at Cal, he participated in the San Francisco Chinese New Year parade and studied Chinese culture and language in Taiwan.

Since 1993, Stephen has enjoyed being an active Asian Art Museum storyteller. This extracurricular activity enriches his life and career as an optometrist and professor of optometry at UC Berkeley. Stephen treasures his time working with children because they keep him young with their curiosity, energy, and inclusiveness. "Educating younger generations about different cultures and the past through storytelling, and providing them opportunities to build on that knowledge to better understand themselves and others, is important to me," he says.

Dr. Doris Chun liked crafts and enjoyed practicing Chinese calligraphy as a child. She came from Taiwan to the U.S. to pursue her graduate studies. A professor suggested she explore becoming a docent at the Asian Art Museum. Doris loves to learn and share, which she has done for many years as a professor of Chinese language and culture and founding chair of the Asian Studies Department at City College of San Francisco. She has been giving docent tours at the museum since 1985.

Because of their long service to the museum, the Chuns' decision to include a gift to the museum in their estate plan came naturally. They value the museum's collections, as well as its mission and service to many communities and students. They both say, "We want to advance the opportunities we had, bringing new audiences to the museum so that they can learn about Asian history, culture, and art. the museum builds bridges between different peoples so that they can better understand each other on a local and global scale."