Harold Y. H. Law

Dr. Harold Law came to the United States as a Chinese refugee in 1956. He worked his way through college and earned his Doctor of Science degree in Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 1975. His service to the community and to others has been a way of life. He is one of the founders of the St. Louis Christian Chinese Community Service Center and for the past 47 years he has been providing voluntary services to the elderly, new immigrants and the underprivileged in the Chinese/Asian community.

Dr. Law’s service to the community began in the early 1960s when he and his wife provided transportation and support to the first generation of immigrants from China to St. Louis. In 1979, they provided voluntary support services to over 70 Indo-Chinese refugees with jobs, language acquisition and medical service arrangements. His work in the community has promoted small business development for all minorities in St. Louis. He was named the St. Louis Minority Small Business Person of the Year in 1994. In 1995, Dr. Law was an official delegate representing the State of Missouri in the White House Conference on Small Business. He received the Engineering Alumni Achievement Award from Washington University and the Outstanding Community Economic Development Leadership Award presented by the Governor of Missouri in 1998. He is also a member of the National Council for the School of Engineering at Washington University.

Active in civic affairs, Dr. Law served on the Interim Board of Directors for the St. Louis Metropolitan Minority Supplier Development Council promoting business opportunities for minority small businesses. In 1995 and 1996, he was president of the St. Louis Chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans, a national nonprofit, non-partisan, civic organization. During those two years, he worked tirelessly with the Mayor of the City of St. Louis to establish a new city ordinance to recognize and include Asian American and Native American minority status for the job market in the city.

Dr. Law is committed to higher education and equal access to entrepreneurial and social services for all. As his nominator stated, “Harold Law believes in St. Louis. He has demonstrated his dedication and passion to the social, cultural, educational and economic arenas of the community. With his personal integrity, compassion for others and selfless dedication, he deserves to be recognized as a role model for all.”