Filipinos have been in the United States since the 16th century, yet many of their stories remain untold. For the past months, Positively Filipino has been running a series on notable Filipino Americans who have made their marks in this country. There are hundreds, or maybe even thousands more, that need to be added to this story, and we need your help. If you know of a Filipino American who deserves to be included in this line-up, please send us their names and any supporting documents you may have to pfpublisher@yahoo.com. For now, we are including only those who are currently active and visible in the media and the community, regardless of their religious, sexual or political orientation. Thank you.

Gregorio Villar III, NASA Engineer

**Gregorio Villar III (Source: Twitter)**

Villar was among those who assisted in the safe landing of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars recently. He is also the head verification and validation engineer for the EDL phase of Perseverance, and he led a council of atmospheric scientists from institutions around the world to characterize the Martian atmosphere. He said that “getting the rover to land after 203 days in space was nerve-racking. The entry, descent and landing are called the ‘7 minutes of terror’.” He hopes to go to Mars one day. Born in the United States to Filipino parents, Villar attended the Saint Louis University in Baguio where he studied a lot of “math and physics.” As a child, he wanted to be an astronaut. He graduated from Cal Poly Pomona. He acquired a NASA scholarship in 2007 and was awarded NASA’s Motivating Undergraduate in Science and Technology. In 2009, he was in NASA’s Undergraduate Student Research Program where he studied the 2009 Jupiter impact. He obtained his master’s in Astronautical Engineering at the University of Southern California.

Wesley So, Chess Grandmaster

So was born in the Philippines to Filipino Chinese parents and at nine years old, he was already competing in junior chess tournaments. He has been estranged from his biological family after they left for Canada and left him alone in Manila. In 2012, he received a scholarship offer from Webster University and he emigrated to the United States. He lives with his adoptive parents, Lotis Key and Renato Kabigting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. So represented the Philippines in tournaments until his transfer to the United States Chess Federation in 2014. He has won many tournaments. On October 29, 2020, Wesley became US Champion again. He had a total score of 9/11 against a top-class field in the online competition. So's unbeaten performance was compared by some chess commentators to the dominant performances of Bobby Fischer in the 1960s, particularly Fischer's 11/11 performance in 1963/1964 and his 9.5/11 performance in 1966. So's 9/11 score is the third-best score in the U.S. National Championship’s history. On November 30, 2020, So defeated Carlsen to win the Skilling Open championship, winning $30,000. So became an American citizen last February 26, 2021.

E. J. R. David, Associate Professor of Psychology

E. J. R. David (Source: Alaska Business Magazine)

David was born in the Philippines by Kapampangan and Tagalog parents, and grew up in Pasay, Las Pinas, Makati, and Barrow, Alaska. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Alaska Anchorage (2002), and Master of Arts (2004) and Doctoral (2007) Degrees in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. David is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Alaska Anchorage, with his primary duties being with the Ph.D. Program in Clinical-Community Psychology, which has a rural, cultural, and indigenous emphasis. His first book, Brown Skin, White Minds: Filipino / American Postcolonial Psychology, focuses on colonial mentality and its psychological implications among Filipino Americans. David was the 2007 recipient of the American Psychological Association (APA) Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues (Division 45) Distinguished Student Research Award "for his significant contribution in psychological research related to ethnic minority populations." In 2012, due to the impact of his work in only five years since obtaining his Ph.D., David was honored by the APA Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) with the Early Career Award in Research for Distinguished Contributions to the Field of Racial and Ethnic Minority Psychology, citing his "outstanding scientific contributions and the application of this knowledge toward the improved mental and physical well-being of people of color." In 2013, he was also chosen to receive the Asian American Psychological Association Early Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research. In 2014, he was honored by the Alaska Psychological Association with the "Cultural Humanitarian Award for Exemplary Service and Dedication to Diversity, and in 2015, he was inducted as a Fellow by the Asian American Psychological Association for “Unusual and Outstanding Contributions to Asian American Psychology.” Although currently living in Seattle, Dr. David's home is Anchorage, Alaska. He and his wife have three children -- Malakas (strong), Kalayaan (freedom), and Kaluguran (love). In 2020, the Alaska Legislature presented him with a certificate in recognition of his scholarly work and contributions in Alaska.

Ruben Carranza, International Justice Lawyer

Carranza is director of the Reparative Justice Program at the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). He has worked in over 30 countries emerging from armed conflict or dictatorships or addressing legacies of historical injustices. Before joining ICTJ, he was Commissioner in the Philippine government from 2001-2004, seeking to hold the Marcos dictatorship accountable for corruption. He obtained his B.A. and LL.B degrees from the University of the Philippines and completed his master’s in law as a fellow in NYU Law School’s Global Public Service Law Program, where he is a part-time faculty member. He currently works with victims’ communities and reparations policymakers in Nepal, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iraq, Palestine, Liberia, Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya. He provides advice on issues involving reparations and war crime tribunals, including the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and the International Criminal Court.

Elaine Mendoza Erfe Chapelle, Wife of Comedian Dave Chapelle

Elaine Mendoza Erfe Chapelle, with husband Dave

Mendoza grew up in Brooklyn, New York to Christian Filipino parents. She met Dave Chappelle in New York and they dated for a long time before getting married. In 1997, Dave became a Muslim while Elaine remained a Christian. The couple have been married for more than two decades. They share three children and live in a 65-acre farm in Yellow Springs, Ohio. They made their first public appearance at the annual Philippines-American picnic in Dayton, Ohio. Although she had wanted to be a chef in the past, she decided to raise her family and practice her culinary skills for the family. Elaine was Dave’s support system during his breakup with Comedy Central regarding his show. The couple is reportedly worth $42 million.

Margaret Lapiz, Health Care Advocate

A former Kaiser Permanente executive vice president, Lapiz has worked in advisory and project roles with Google, Netflix, and the Aspen Institute. She also co-founded Under One roof, a special impact venture focused on advancing a collaborative, future-oriented, coordinated approach to health and wellbeing in farmworker and rural communities. In Spring 2020, she was tapped to lead the COVID-19 response and recovery efforts for Santa Cruz County, California. Lapiz is on her third term as a trustee on the University of California at Davis Foundation Board. In 2018, UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health named her one of its 75 Most Influential Alumni. That same year, she received the UC Davis Alumna of the Year award. She was recognized by Diversity MBA magazine on its Top 100 Under 50 list in 2014 and was also named one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World by the Global Filipina Women’s Network. The McNulty Foundation selected her as a recipient of its Catalyst Fund award for her efforts at addressing health inequities in farmworker communities.

Antonio Moya, M.D., Neurologist

Moya is a Board Certified neurologist and Los Angeles County DHS Scholar for the UCLA National Clinician Scholars Program, working at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. His primary community partner is the Filipino American Service Group Inc. in historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles. He completed his neurology residency at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Prior to residency, he graduated from the UCSF School of Medicine as a PRIME-US Scholar, completed his MPH at the Harvard School of Public Health, and was also awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in the Philippines to study the establishment of telemedicine stroke care. He researches on Asian Pacific Islander health disparities, specifically stroke prevention and treatment while leveraging media as a means to encourage healthy living. The next step of his career is being a full-time neurologist at Los Angeles Department of Public Health Services.

Lucille Tenazas, Graphic Designer

Born and raised in Manila, Tenazas won national painting contests as a child. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the College of the Holy Spirit. Her aunt in Michigan offered to pay for postgraduate tuition in the U.S., and Tenazas was accepted as a mid-year transfer student at Cranbrook Academy of Art, receiving an MFA in 2-D Design. In 2000, she founded the graphic design MFA program at California College of Arts and Crafts to develop students’ ideas through a process of self-discovery. In 2006, she moved to New York with her husband and two children. She is the Henry Wolf Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Art, Media and Technology at the Parsons School of Design. In 2013, she was awarded the American Institute of Graphic Arts Medal for “her prominent role in translating postmodern ideas into critical design practice; her exploration of the relationship between type, photography and language; and the development and leadership of highly-respected design education programs – always with exquisite execution.” Her work includes projects for the Henry Art Gallery, Rizzoli International, San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Symphony, Stanford University Art Museum and the University of California, Berkeley.

Anton Juan, Jr., Ph.D., Playwright and Director

Anton Juan (Source: Kellogg Institute for International Studies)

Juan is a tenured full professor and theater director at the University of Notre dame du Lac in Indiana. He completed his Ph.D. in Semiotics at the Kapodistrian and Panhellenic University of Athens. He has received the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres from the French government, the Alexander Onassis International Award for Theater (Playwriting), and the Special Jury Prize for Screenplay from CineManila International Film Festival. Juan is also the founding Artistic Director of the Step of Angels Theater in Athens, Greece and was the Director-General of Dulaang University of the Philippines, where he taught English and Comparative Literature and European Languages. His work is recognized for often challenging convention, stunning visual poetry, and language in space. His poetic style has been seen and widely admired in the Philippines, in Asia, the USA, and Europe, “not only as innovative and visually exciting, but also as merging inner space, movement, sound-sense, with the urgent cry for insularized, marginalized, and emergent cultures.”

Leezel Tanglao, Journalist and Media Consultant

Leezel Tanglao (Source: leezeltanglao.com)

Tanglao is the Senior Editor for Membership and Innovation at HuffPost. She consults with media companies through her company, StatFury. She worked with the Associated Press in Audience Development and at CNNMoney as Assistant Managing Editor of Programming where she led a global team of multiplatform editors. In 2019, she was selected for Reynolds Journalism Institute Non-Residential Fellowship for 2019-2020 to build a tool that will help journalism. She received her bachelor’s degree at Loyola Marymount University and a master’s degree at University of California, Los Angeles. She was part of the Poynter/ONA Women’s Leadership Program in 2016 and was named 2018 Member of Year by the Asian American Journalists Association. She is a 2019 Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO) delegate and sits on its Board. She is the chair of the FYLPRO COVID-19 Taskforce.

Saweetie, Rapper

Diamonte Quiava Valentin Harper, aka Saweetie, was born in Hayward, California to Trinidad Valentin, her Filipina Chinese mother, and Johnny Harper, her African American father. She began writing music at age 13. At San Diego State University, she studied communications and business before transferring to the University of Southern California where she completed her degree in communications. She began posting short raps on her Instagram account in 2016. Her song, “Icy Girl,” caught the attention of Max Gousse, a well-known producer and A&R executive who became her manager. The video for the song went viral on the internet and accrued 100 million views on YouTube as of June 2020. She was named Tidal’s Artist of the week in 2018 and one of Pigeons & Planes’ Best New Artists of the Month. In 2019, she signed up with Warner Bros. Records. Her debut album, Pretty Bitch Music, is expected to be released this year (2021).

Alex De Ocampo, Voting Advocate

Growing up in poverty and losing his father to cancer at the age of nine, De Ocampo resisted the lure of gangs where he lived in Los Angeles. Instead of breaking into cars or dealing drugs, he went door to door selling cookies in order to pay for a pair of glasses. His parents, Pedro and Encarnacion, told him that hard work would eventually pay off. He committed himself to his studies and made the most of the resources available from state and federal institutions. He landed a scholarship to Cal State Northridge after high school, and after earning his degree in 2002 he worked as an assistant for philanthropist and media executive, Haim Saban. He currently manages the Saban Family Foundation, overseeing the distribution of hundreds of millions of dollars of charitable funds worldwide. He also serves as a board member of the California Film Commission and the California State Summer School Arts Foundation. He is a co-founder of the Filipino Voter Empowerment Project to boost the community’s participation in the electoral process.

Eva Noblezada, Actor

Noblezada was born in San Diego to a Filipino father and Mexican American mother. The family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where she attended the Northwest School of the Arts. At the age of 17, she was cast in the lead role of Kim for the West End revival of Miss Saigon, which won her WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Later she assumed the role of Eponine in the West End production of Les Miserables in 2016. That same year, she made her Carnegie Hall debut with Lea Salonga and the New York Pops. She made her film debut in Diane Paragas’ 2019 film Yellow Rose as the title character, Rose. She recently appeared in Law & Order:SVU. She has been vocal about her personal struggles with anxiety, depression, bulimia, and body dysmorphic disorder.

Sources: Wikipedia and Google

The Magazine

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 17