Scholarly Panels
Contributions from academics drawing on the method and resources of their respective disciplines.
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Panels / topics proposed to date:
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Sino-Vatican Relations in Historical Perspective
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Sociological Perspectives on Christianity
in Contemporary China -
The Sinicisation of Religion in China Today
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Environmental Issues and the Faith Communities of China
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Click this button for a form to enter:
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suggestions for panels and topics
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suggestions concerning speakers (including yourself)
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submission of brief abstracts
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other suggestions or feedback
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Note: Panel organizers (only) will have conference registration fees waived in appreciation for their service to the gathering.
Presentations and
workshops
Discussion forums and practical advice from people involved in the life of the Church in China and in the Chinese diaspora.
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Practical workshops and presentations requested to date:
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Faith and the Current Generation
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Social Services: Making a Contribution in China Society
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The American University Context
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Relations among Christians and China
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Paths to Discipleship
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Religion in the City
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Click this button for a form to enter:
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suggestions for workshops or presentations
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suggestions concerning speakers (including yourself)
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other suggestions or feedback
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Note: Presenters will have their conference registration fees waived in appreciation for their service to the gathering.
Board of Directors
OFFICERS
Peter Tan
Chair of the Board
Houston, Texas
Peter Tan was born in Indonesia and grew up in Singapore. He graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1977 with a double BA Degree in Business Administration and Political Science. In 1992, he converted to the Catholic faith. He joined the Knights of Columbus, became the Diocesan Deputy of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and then Master of the Fourth Degree. He currently serves on the Board of St. Mary Seminary in Houston. He is a Knight Commander with Star of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Since 2016, he and a small group of priests and Chinese lay Catholics in Houston raised funds to sponsor priests from China to attend the University of St. Thomas in Houston to study for a MA Degree.
Richard Madsen, Ph.D.
Vice Chair of the Board
San Diego, California
I was sent on a mission to Taiwan in 1968 and spent three years learning Chinese language and culture. While there I discerned a vocation to be a bridge builder between China and the West by fostering mutual understanding between their cultures and reconciliation from past estrangements. I have pursued this vocation with help from the USCCA since its founding. Much of this has been through academic research, in which I have produced eighteen books. In the process I have made friends with many different Chinese people, from high officials to university professors, farmers, and migrant workers. I have carried out dialogues about fundamental human values with Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, and Communists.
Anne S. Tsui, Ph.D.
Secretary
Paradise Valley, Arizona
Dr. Anne Tsui (PhD.) is a longlife academic who has worked in several universities both in the US and in China. She is currently Professor emerita at Arizona State University, and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Peking University and Fudan University, China. She is the 67th President of the Academy of Management, a Fellow of the Academy of International Business, and the 14th Editor of the Academy of Management Journal. Since 2000, Dr. Tsui has worked with the leading business schools of China, and she founded the International Association for Chinese Management Research and the journal “Management and Organization Review” that publishes primarily Chinese research . She has been a leading force in the development of Chinese management research. In addition, as a co-founder of the Responsible Research in Business and Management, led a global effort to transform business research into a force for the common good.
John Dewan
Director and Treasurer
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John Dewan left his highly successful career as an insurance actuary to become one of the founders, majority owner, and CEO of STATS, Inc. Because, as he says, “Sports numbers are much more fun than insurance numbers.” Dewan sold STATS to Rupert Murdoch in 1999. His third career venture was Baseball Info Solutions (now Sports Info Solutions), which has developed the most in-depth database of detailed baseball information in the industry. Ever thankful for his business successes, John now spends most of his time in “give-back” mode. His fourth career venture is the Dewan Foundation that focuses on helping the poorest of the poor to help themselves.
Rev. Rob Carbonneau, CP, Ph.D.
Director
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Father Rob served as Executive Director of the U.S.-China Catholic Association (2014-2017). He is a Passionist priest; a member of St. Paul of the Cross Province. Presently he is an Affiliated Research Fellow at the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Culture at Boston College where he is also an adjunct professor in the Theology Department. At the Ricci Institute, he is also historian and curator of the Passionist China Collection (PCC), an archive of over 10,000 photos and 60,000 documents, photographs, reports, films, and correspondence that reveal the twentieth century Passionist-based mission in Hunan, China. Fr. Rob is a graduate of Assumption University, Worcester, MA (BA, History), St. John's University, New York (MA, Theology and M.Div.) and Georgetown University (Ph.D. in American and East Asian history). He has taught at American colleges and universities and as a foreign expert in Chongqing, China (2007-2008). His research and international publications focus on the Passionists in China, and the relationship between American Catholic missionaries and the U. S. Department of State in pre-1955 China. Fr. Rob frequently lectures on Chinese history and Catholicism.
Alfred Gui, Ph.D.
Director
Robbinsville Township, New Jersey
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Alfred Gui was born in Nanjing, China, in 1986. He completed his college degree at Peking University in 2008. During his college years, he was baptized in a Protestant Church.
Alfred started his graduate study at the University of Washington, Seattle in 2008. In the following year (2009), he was received into the Catholic Church through confirmation. During his graduate study years, he was deeply involved in the international student ministry organized by various Protestant churches while he served in the music ministry of the Catholic church. He completed his Ph.D. study in the field of Electrical Engineering in 2014.
Alfred worked at Microsoft as a software engineer from 2014 to 2017; in 2018, he moved to New Jersey, and he participated in Seton Hall University's Chinese student ministry in 2018 and 2019. Alfred was introduced to Fr. Michael and the USCCA at a lecture in 2019.
Alfred married his wife Sophia in 2020, and their son Albert was born in 2022. Currently, Alfred is working at Flexport as a software engineer. His personal intellectual interests include cross-culture evangelization, Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, artificial intelligence, and the human mind.
DIRECTORS
Rev. Francis Li, D.Min.
Director
Chicago, Illinois
Fr. Francis was ordained in 1999. He has served at three very diverse parishes before he being named the Pastor of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish, a parish with two worship sites, St. Therese Chinese Catholic Church and St. Barbara Catholic Church. He received his Advanced Pastoral Leadership Certificate through the Kellogg School of Management and the Doctor of Ministry Degree from the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, in 2016. He has a passion for Evangelization and enjoys readings, sports, and contemporary cinema.
Rev. Joseph Lin, CM
Director
Queens, New York
Fr. Joseph Lin belongs to the China Province of the Congregation of Mission founded by St. Vincent de Paul, also known as the Vincentians, whose central charism is to share the Gospel with those who have been marginalized in society. Fr. Lin received his master's degree in Scripture at St John’s University in 2011 and in Pastoral Counseling at Fordham University in 2020. He served the Chinese community at the Church of St. Joseph in Manhattan until 2015, and now he serves Chinese community as parochial vicar at the Basilica of Regina Pacis in Brooklyn.
Deacon Doug Lovejoy, Colonel, USA (Ret), MPA, Ph.D.
Director
Annapolis, Maryland
Deacon Doug Lovejoy has been guided by the Holy Spirit in focusing his life on service to the Church, the country and the mission of the USCCA. After graduating from Notre Dame and earning his master's degree from Princeton, Doug served twenty-four years in the US Army as a China specialist during which he taught Chinese Politics at West Point and Princeton and earned his PhD from the Catholic University of America. His dissertation, “Uncertain Opening,” addressed the impact of foreign relations on the Catholic Church and China in the post-Mao period. He was ordained a deacon for the Diocese of Trenton in 2004 and served as executive director of the USCCA (at the time known as the U.S. Catholic China Bureau) from 2003 to 2006. He and his wife Jean have been married for fifty-five years and they have five children and nine grandchildren. He continues to serve as a deacon in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Kathleen O'Brien, M.A.
Director
Berkeley, California
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Kathleen's commitment to her Catholic faith and passion for Chinese culture were nurtured during her time at Bradley University, where she was a religious studies and philosophy major. Upon graduation, she dedicated three years as a Maryknoll lay missionary, teaching English in China at Jilin Agricultural College and Jilin Catholic Seminary.
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Kathleen’s years in China were transformative. They led her to Chicago, where she obtained a master’s in systematic theology at Catholic Theological Union. She was also a full-time USCCA staff member from fall 2021–spring 2023 tasked with launching the Chinese and American Friendship Ministry. She now lives in Berkeley, where she works for Maryknoll in the Mission Formation Department.
For her, serving on the Board is an opportunity to invite others into the Catholic experience from a Chinese perspective and discovering who God is in that. She hopes lasting friendships can be made in that endeavor that benefit the wider global community.
Rev. Hugh O’Donnell, CM, Ph.D.
Director
Chicago, Illinois
Throughout his career, Fr. O'Donnell has held leadership and formation positions in the U.S., China, and in France. Born of Irish immigrant parents in Chicago in 1934, he entered the Congregation of Mission (the Vincentians) in 1952. Ordained a priest in 1961, he eventually went on for doctoral studies in Biblical theology, receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, in 1966. He then served as professor and formation director at St. Thomas Seminary in Denver (1966-1975), as rector at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis (1975-1978), and as provincial superior of the Midwest Province Congregation of the Mission (1978-1987). After returning to St. Thomas Seminary as professor of theology and formation director, in 1993 he accepted the mission to Taiwan as provincial superior there. Under his tenure, the Vincentians re-entered China for the first time since 1950. Then from 2003 to 2009 he served as director of the Center for International Formation at the Vincentian motherhouse in Paris. Now based in the U.S., Fr. O'Donnell founded and heads up an annual five-week summer program on leadership at De Paul University for sisters and priests from China.
Mary Sluka, M.A.
Director
Riverside, Illinois
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Mary Sluka's service to the USCCA stems from her time studying for her M.A. in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii. She also has an M.A. in Pastoral Studies from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. A long-time member of the Board of the USCCA, she served as Secretary for almost a decade. While serving with the USCCA, she has helped introduce the Montessori-based "Catechesis of the Good Shepherd" to China, organize several national conferences of the USCCA, lead a study tour to Hong Kong and China, and give talks on the Church in China in parishes in several U.S. cities, where she has always found congregants to be deeply inspired by the stories of Chinese Catholics.
ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS
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Fr. Aaron A.C. Bohr, S.J.
Incoming Associate Director
Chicago, Illinois
Aaron Bohr, S.J., is a Jesuit of the USA Midwest Province with an M.Div. from the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. Throughout his Jesuit formation, Aaron has taught and worked with the corporate work study program at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Twin Cities, where he was also involved in campus ministry. Aaron sees his calling and ministry as a Jesuit as deepening his teaching vocation.
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Aaron's mother is ethnic Chinese from Jamaica, West Indies, and his father is of British and German descent. Because of his multicultural upbringing, he has been drawn to learn about other religions and cultures. In his free time, Aaron enjoys reading, writing, playing the piano, and walking in the Berkeley Hills in California.
Fr. Edward Griswold
Incoming Associate Director
Bayville, New Jersey
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An alumnus of Catholic Grammar and High Schools, Fr. Edward Griswold graduated with a BA in philosophy and an STL in 1972. He earned a M. Ed. in Counseling (Rutgers) in 1983 and a Doctor of Ministry (Aquinas Institute) in 2008.
Fr. Griswold was ordained a priest on April 7, 1973, for the Diocese of Trenton. His assignments in the diocese included: St. Ann’s, Browns Mills (deacon); St. Ambrose, Old Bridge (deacon); St. Matthias, Somerset (’73-80); Vocation Director (’80-’87); St. Mary’s, Colts Neck (pastor, ’95-2007); Director Priests Continuing Education (2000-’07); St. Gregory, Hamilton Square (pastor, ’07-09); St. Barnabas, Bayville (Senior Priest, Retired ’21- present).
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Outside the diocese, Fr. Griswold’s assignments were: Director, National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors, Chicago (’87-’91); Mundelein Seminary, Chicago (Faculty’91-’95); St. Mary Seminary, Baltimore (Vice Rector, Faculty, Pastoral Dept. Director ’08-’18); Notre Dame University, South Bend (Visiting Professor ’18-’19); University of Dallas (Preaching Instructor ’22-present).
Drew McNeil
Incoming Associate Director
Worcester, Massachusetts
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Andrew McNeil has been studying Chinese language and culture since age 11, when his dad brought home a library card allowing him to learn new languages online. Following a calling from God to serve others, Andrew obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Theology and a minor in Chinese Language/Culture at the University of San Francisco in 2021, where he first began his involvement with the USCCA as an online peer tutor through Arete College in Shanghai.
Andrew currently serves as Campus Minister and Religious Studies teacher at Saint John's High School in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, part of the Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools network, in addition to serving as a Religious Education Coordinator for Grades 9-10 seeking Confirmation at his local church, St. Mary’s Parish.
Margaret Smetana
Incoming Associate Director
Scarborough, Maine
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Margaret Smetana joins the USCCA as a member of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, bringing a lifetime of experience in organizational and educational leadership to her role supporting the 2024 Conference communications, the 2025 USCCA Mission Cooperative Program, and the 2026 Conference. Margaret holds a BFA from the University of Hartford Art School, and professional credentials in Montessori School Management and Leadership. Margaret believes in the power of shared experiences and as such seeks to imbue all aspects of her life and work with a spirit of community and hope!
Kathy Stout
Incoming Associate Director
Dayton, Ohio
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Dr. Stout received her Ph.D. in theology from the University of Dayton in December 2023. She has taught classes on theology and religious studies as well as Daoism, Buddhism, and Chinese traditions in general to undergraduate students at UD and the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Stout has been serving as a USCCA Book Circle organizer since February 2024.
Vicky Sun, M.T.S.
Incoming Associate Director
Beijing, China
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Lianghui “Vicky” Sun is a scholar and consultant with a deep commitment to faith, ethics, and cross-cultural engagement. She holds a Master of Theological Studies from the University of Notre Dame, specializing in ancient Chinese philosophies and comparative theology, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from the University of Dallas, where she focused on political theology and the ecclesiology of St. Robert Bellarmine. As the co-founder of Wise Promise Advisory, Vicky works with international businesses on ethical strategy, media engagement, and corporate philanthropy. Her multilingual abilities and experience in legal, academic, and business fields equip her to bridge diverse perspectives in service of faith and mission.
Stephen C. Tsai, Ph.D.
Associate Director
Walnut Creek, California
Steve Tsai came to the United States in 1970 for graduate studies. He attended the University of Rhode Island and U. C. Berkeley where he majored in Civil Engineering and Earthquake Engineering. After graduation, he worked at a Geotechnical Engineering firm for 5 years before joining the California State University, Long Beach. He is Professor Emeritus in California State University, Long Beach where he served in the College of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Management for over thirty years before his retirement in 2014.
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Dr. Tsai was also Executive Director for Inter Friendship House Association (IFHA) in Los Angeles for over ten years. IFHA of Southern California has served visiting Chinese scholars in the US since 1989. Its activities include providing needed assistance and various services such as English Classes, culture workshop and field trips for visiting Chinese scholars.
Sr. Dong Hong Marie Zhang, CSSF
Incoming Associate Director
Newark, New Jersey
Sr. Dong Hong Marie Zhang, CSSF, a Felician Sister of North America, made her perpetual vows in 2017. Before coming to the US in 2001, sister’s work experience included being a medical doctor of internal medicine for nine years in a teaching hospital in Wuhan City, a lay missionary in the Philippines, and a regional controller of Bayer Singapore for clinical trials in thirteen Asian countries. Sister graduated from Inner Mongolia Medical University, received her master’s degree of Development Management from Asian Institute of Management, Philippines, and received her M.A. in Pastoral Study in Loyola University Chicago. During her term as a liaison to the Chinese Community of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ, she has collaborated with the Asian and Pacific Island Affairs of USCCB, Asian Pacific Catholic Network, and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
Karina Patman
Incoming Associate Director
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EMERITUS DIRECTORS
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Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D., FRHistS
Director Emeritus
Spokane, Washington
Dr. Anthony E. Clark is Edward B. Lindaman Endowed Chair at Whitworth University, the distinguished Combe Trust Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, and an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of London. He is professor of late-imperial Chinese history and director of the Asian Studies Program at Whitworth University. His publications include China Gothic: The Bishop of Beijing and His Cathedral (2019), A Chinese Jesuit Catechism: Giulio Aleni's Four Character Classic (2021), China’s Catholics in an Era of Transformation: Observations of an “Outsider” (2020), Heaven in Conflict: Franciscans and the Boxer Uprising in Shanxi (2015) and China’s Christianity: From Missionary to Indigenous Church (edited volume, 2017). Clark’s scholarship centers on Sino-Christian cultural exchange in late-imperial China, including an examination of the place of Catholic martyrs. He received his doctorate in classical sinology under Dr. Stephen Durrant, in the lineage of Fr. Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, Fr. Father Jozef Mullie, CICM, Dr. Peter Boodberg, and Fr. Paul Serruys, CICM. His is a tradition of comparative research into China’s long intellectual and religious exchange with the West.
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Thomas McGuire, M.Div., M.R.E.
Director Emeritus
Chicago, Illinois
Tom McGuire’s friendship with Chinese people dates back to his days as a Maryknoll Missionary in Hong Kong. His experience of living and sharing the Gospel with Chinese refugee sisters and brothers was a formative experience of mission discipleship. Tom also served as Director of Campus Ministry at the University of Detroit Mercy.
When he returned to the U.S. participating in USCCA Conferences helped to maintain his friendships with Chinese people. For six years, he served as USCCA Board Chair and now as a Board Emeritus Director.
Abbot Doug Mullin, OSB
Director Emeritus
Collegeville, Minnesota
Douglas Mullin is a Benedictine monk and a priest of Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. After a long, distinguished career as an educator and administrator at the elementary, high school, and university levels, Abbot Doug now serves as a chaplain at the St. Cloud VA Medical Center. Since the early 1990’s Abbot Doug has been developing deep, ongoing friendships with seminarians, priests, sisters and lay people from China who have studied at Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology.​
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Jean-Paul Wiest, Ph.D.
Director Emeritus
Newcastle Washington​​​​​
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LOCAL ORDINARY
Most Rev. Michael C. Barber, SJ
Bishop of the Diocese of Oakland
Bishop Michael Barber is the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Oakland, serving the Church and the wider community in Oakland since May, 2013. He entered the Society of Jesus (commonly known as the Jesuits) in 1973 and was ordained a priest by Archbishop John R. Quinn of San Francisco in 1985. Educated at Gonzaga University (Spokane), Regis College (Toronto), Gregorian University (Rome), and Oxford University (England), he served as a naval chaplain with distinction over many years, rising to the rank of Captain. Before taking the helm of the Diocese of Oakland, he served as Director of the School of Pastoral Leadership in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, professor at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, and Director of Spiritual Formation at St. John’s Seminary in the Archdiocese of Boston. Conversant in Italian, French, Samoan and liturgical Spanish, he now heads one of the most diverse and engaging dioceses in California.
Affiliates
Phoebe Qian
Affiliate
Digital Designer
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​Phoebe Qian, a Catholic from China, studied Architecture in Berkeley, CA as an international student. She has experienced significant growth with the support of the USCCA's Chinese and American Friendship Ministry (CAAFM), where she found better ways to practice her faith.
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With her skillset in digital design, she is passionate about creating visually compelling content that aligns with the USCCA's mission to engage, inform, and inspire its communities. In this work, Phoebe collaborates with Anne T. (Board Secretary), Kathleen O., and Alfred G. (Board Directors and Co-Chairs of the CAAFM).
Shirley Wang
Affiliate
Rapporteur
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​Shirley Wang came home to the Catholic faith in 2021 while studying at Augustana University in South Dakota. She is currently studying mental health counseling at Divine Mercy University. With both Chinese and American cultural backgrounds, she desires to serve the Chinese and Chinese American populations in the US. Shirley was a rapporteur for the USCCA's 29th International Conference in 2024. She also volunteers when available to help with ongoing projects at the USCCA. She currently lives in New York City.