Ms. Angela A. Chao is the daughter of 89-year-old Dr. James S.C. Chao. He started his life in America as a student who worked himself through school at a Chinese restaurant and went on to earn his MBA and thereon to building his shipping empire from scratch. All six sisters of the Chao family went to Ivy League schools and four of them went to Harvard Business School. President Bush once asked Dr. and Mrs. Chao for their secrets of parenting success.
The Chao family is affluent, but all the daughters learned to earn their own money, be independent, and work hard from a young age. The sisters rode school buses together, did their chores together and even mowed the lawn and paved the driveway (over 100-feet long) all by themselves. Every time Dr. Chao invited guests to their house, the sisters would always serve the guests tableside. Although Angela is the youngest and born in the US, her parents never let her forget about her Chinese roots. She has been visiting China since she was eight years old and speaks fluent Chinese. She hopes to be a bridge to facilitate US-China understanding and exchanges and fulfill her parents’ hopes and expectations.