The Honorary Chair is a role model for the Asian community

Each year, the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival names an Honorary Chair to represent the festival and serves as an inspiration for the area’s Asian and Asian American communities. The Honorary Chair is a role model not only for her or his level of success and leadership, but also for a proven and lifelong commitment to serving the Asian Pacific American communities.

Here are the requirements for the CDBF Honorary Chair nominations:

Selection Criteria
* A proven champion or advocate of the Asian community
* Strong, outspoken advocate for APA organizations and events
* Comfortable with public appearances and public speaking
* Comfortable with interviews and being filmed on camera
* Available to attend the majority of CDBF events and the Festival itself
* One individual nominated per calendar year by the community
* Must be a Colorado resident

Here’s the 2011 Honorary Chair, Dr. Rudolph Lie

Dr. Rudoph Lie, CDBF 2011 Honorary Chair

Rudolph Lie, Ph.D. is a retired clinical psychologist and one of the founders of the Asian Pacific Development Center (APDC). Dr. Lie started APDC’s behavioral/mental health services in 1980 during the influx of Southeastern refugees and immigrants in Colorado following the end of the Vietnam War and the Fall of Saigon.

A licensed Psychologist in Colorado and Michigan, he has served in the community mental health field in both non-profit and public sectors. Dr. Lie received his doctoral degree from Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, in Clinical Psychology. He worked in the community mental health system in the Denver area for 20 years in various positions including Executive Director of Park East Community Mental Health Center and Deputy Director of Operations of the Denver Mental Health Corporation. In 1993 Dr. Lie was appointed Executive Director of the Ottawa County Community Mental Health Department, in Michigan.

In 1977-’78 he served as a member of a Task Panel on Special Population of The President’s Commission on Mental Health, co-chaired by Mrs. Rosalyn Carter. He held an appointment of Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychology at the University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center. He also served as a board member of a number of non-profit organizations in the Denver Metro area, including Advisory Board member of the School of Professional Psychology, University of Denver. He was a member of the Denver Private Industry Council under Mayors Federico Pena and Wellington Webb.

He has served on the Board of Directors of Asian Pacific Development Center for the last eight years. Currently, he is the Chairperson of the APDC board.

He’s accomplished his mission to provide linguistically proficient and culturally appropriate services to the Asian/Pacific Islander refugee/immigrant communities. Dr. Lie is one of the very special people who made the last 30 years of APDC possible, and has been an enormous asset to the Asian community in Colorado.

We’re honored to have him as a role model!

You can read about Rudy Lie on YourHub.com.

2010 Daniel Oh, entrepreneur and community leader (Korean American)
2009 Kerry Hada, Denver County Judge (Japanese American)
2008 Ved Nanda, professor (Indian American)
2007 Susanna Choi, physician and community leader (Korean American)
2006 George and Helen Yoshida, community volunteers (George is a retired social worker) (Japanese Hawaiian)
2005 Donna LaVigne, entrepreneur and Asian community leader (Filipino American)
2004 John Yee, veteran and educator (Chinese American)
2003 Jaime Yrastorza, doctor and humanitarian (Filipino American)
2002 Bill Hosokawa, journalist and longtime Denver Post editor (Japanese American)
2001 Stan Matsunaka, former Colorado State Senate President (Japanese American)