Echopedia

Chungchin Chen (陳仲欽)

7 min read

Chungchin Chen (陳仲欽)

Identity Snapshot

  • English: Chungchin Chen
  • Chinese: 陳仲欽
  • Era: 1935
  • Geography: Hsinchu , Taiwan (台灣新竹)
  • Core roles: engineer
  • Source: TAH Foundation Who’s Who

Accomplishment

  1. Directed the staff in preparing Long-Range Regional Development Plan and carrying our various community and regional analyses.

Education

  • National Cheng-Chi Univ. — 1959 — B.A., Political Science
  • UC Berkeley — 1965 — M.S., City & Regional Planning

Employment

  • City Planning Dept., Kansas, MO — Assistant Planner — (1965-1967) — Metro-Planning Department, Indianapolis, IN — Senior Planner — (1967-1969) — Capital District Regional Planning Commission, Albany, NY — Executive Director — (1970-2003) — Community — Overseas Compatriot Affairs Council (Taiwan) 僑務委員會 — Advisor

Family

  • Wife: 魏文華
  • Son: Raymond、Robert、Ronald

Career Notes

  • 最早及最久從事都市及區域計畫專業的台美人（1965–2003，38 年）— see [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/242-e9-99-b3-e4-bb-b2-e6-ac-bd-e6-9c-80-e6-97-a9-e5-8f-8a-e6-9c-80-e4-b9-85-e5-b|TAH #242]]
  • 第一位得到都市計畫學系碩士的台美人（UC Berkeley，1965/06）— see [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/241-e9-99-b3-e4-bb-b2-e6-ac-bd-e7-ac-ac-e4-b8-80-e4-bd-8d-e5-be-97-e5-88-b0-e9-8|TAH #241]]
  • 主導興建全國首座跨多縣市青少年安全拘留中心 — see [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/196-e9-99-b3-e4-bb-b2-e6-ac-bd-built-the-first-in-the-nation-a-multi-county-juve|TAH #196]]
  • 任 Capital District Regional Planning Commission（Albany, NY）執行長 33 年（1970–2003）；僑務委員會顧問 — see OCAC 僑務委員會

Role in the Community

  • Capital District Formosan fellowship — founding member and president — From the 1970-12-25 Christmas dinner (「1970年聖誕節」, 十幾家台灣人聚餐) that founded the “NY State Capital District Formosan Fellowship” (later 首府區台灣同鄉會 / TAA of the Capital District), he helped lead the association through its first decades. Per the association’s own officer line, he served as 會長 from 1982.5 through 1983, and — when the club hit 「組織疲乏」(organizational fatigue) and president-ship vacancies by 2002 — volunteered with fellow founder 李錫洋 to serve again as 會長 for 2003 and 2004, steering the association through its hardest years ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys311|OJ #311]]). As 會長 in 1983 he united the overseas-Chinese community, 留學生同學會 and 華社 to host the 1983-08-22 welcome banquet for Lee Teng-hui’s first US-visit stop at RPI, Albany (~200 attendees; Lee spoke on 「農業十萬大軍」; 陳仲欽致詞歡迎; the photos in the write-up were 陳仲欽提供) ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys152|OJ #152 柏克萊加大的「台灣寮」]], [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/our-journeys-375|OJ #375]], [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/our-journeys-391|OJ #391]]); he later authored the association’s own history, 《紐約首府區台灣同鄉會及台美文化促進會簡介》 (2017/09) ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys311|OJ #311]]; TAA of Capital District NY)
  • Taiwanese American Cultural Society of the Capital District — As a board member of the “New York Association of Nonprofits” he recommended the lawyer who drafted the Certificate of Incorporation and by-laws that won the Society its 501(c)(3) status (2003, 36 founding donors at $200 each); elected Vice President at its first general assembly, 2004-08-04 (four officers: 會長 李錫洋, 副會長 陳仲欽, 秘書 楊偉實, 財務 陳麗玲) (TA Cultural Society of the Capital District); among the guest speakers over the years he himself lectured on 「探討二二八事件真相」 ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys311|OJ #311]])
  • Movement context documented in his association history — Per the history he authored: the 同鄉會 founded a FAPA Albany chapter in 1986 (十幾家 basic member households; lobbying, fund-raising dinners, op-eds for Taiwan); the Capital District club hosted most 台灣同鄉美東壘球賽 matches from 1980, and the championship trophy was named 「彭明敏杯」 in 1984 to honor his democracy movement — 彭明敏 came to Albany in 1986/07 to present the award himself ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys311|OJ #311]]; 彭明敏); by member referendum the 同鄉會 and 文化促進會 ran under one joint board from 2006-10-01 until a proposed full merger failed at the 2013-09 extraordinary general meeting ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys311|OJ #311]], [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/our-journeys-391|OJ #391]])
  • Civic participation — Attended the 2004 Democratic National Convention ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/mystories305|OJ #305]]); witnessed the 2016-06 520 inauguration ceremony, writing 「見證台灣人完全當家作主」 ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/mystories447|OJ #447]]); documented the Capital District Festival of Nations, Albany ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys151|OJ #151]])
  • Memoirist / TAH contributor — His own writings: 八十自述—哈得遜河畔隨筆 (2015/05, autobiography), 公職三十八年心路歷程 (2020/08), 半工半讀 (2015/08), 把握機會更上一層樓 (2015/07) ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/publications762|#762]], [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/my-stories-735|#735]], [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/mystories315|#315]], [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/mystories303|#303]]); his personal papers are archived at TAH as “Collection of Mr. ChungChin Chen” ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/collection-of-mr-chungchin-chen|#4]])

Timeline

  • 1935 — Born in Hsinchu, Taiwan (台灣新竹)
  • 1959 — B.A., Political Science, National Cheng-Chi Univ.
  • 1963-02-13 — Arrived in the U.S. at Long Beach, CA; went to Berkeley the next day and moved into the 「台灣寮」 apartment at 2452 Bancroft Way — a houseful of Taiwanese grad students, most married with families left in Taiwan under the ROC government’s no-dependents policy ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys152|OJ #152]]; excerpted from his autobiography [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/publications762|#762]])
  • 1965 — M.S., City & Regional Planning, UC Berkeley — the first Taiwanese American to earn a master’s in city planning ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/241-e9-99-b3-e4-bb-b2-e6-ac-bd-e7-ac-ac-e4-b8-80-e4-bd-8d-e5-be-97-e5-88-b0-e9-8|TAH #241]])
  • 1965–1967 — Assistant Planner, City Planning Dept., Kansas City, MO
  • 1967–1969 — Senior Planner, Metro-Planning Department, Indianapolis, IN
  • 1970–2003 — Executive Director, Capital District Regional Planning Commission, Albany, NY (33 years): directed staff in preparing the Long-Range Regional Development Plan and various community and regional analyses; built the first multi-county juvenile secure detention facility in the nation ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/196-e9-99-b3-e4-bb-b2-e6-ac-bd-built-the-first-in-the-nation-a-multi-county-juve|TAH #196]])
  • Career span 1965–2003 (38 years) — earliest and longest-serving Taiwanese American urban/regional planning professional ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/242-e9-99-b3-e4-bb-b2-e6-ac-bd-e6-9c-80-e6-97-a9-e5-8f-8a-e6-9c-80-e4-b9-85-e5-b|TAH #242]])
  • 2007/09 — As 促進會 leader, invited author 黃娟 to give a featured talk at the Capital District TA Cultural Society annual meeting in Albany — the two families have been close friends for half a century ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys152|OJ #152]]; Joyce Weng)
  • Community service — Advisor, Overseas Compatriot Affairs Council (僑務委員會) (OCAC)

Sources

Vault Holdings

  • His own encyclopedia records are held in the vault: [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/43-chungchin-chen|TAH #43: Chungchin Chen 陳仲欽]] and [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/whos-who-378-chungchin-chen|TAH #378 (Who’s Who)]], alongside the milestone entries #242, #241 and #196 already linked above.
  • The 2020-08-06 feature 「Chungchin Chen 陳仲欽 in New York」 (TAH: Chen in New York, band B) is held in the vault alongside his memoirs 303.
  • Capital District, NY Taiwanese community records exist in the vault (TA Association of Capital District NY, TA Cultural Society of the Capital District); his TAH profile does not record personal membership.

Graph View

Backlinks