Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Explore Baker Library resources with a connection to Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders and business.

A collage of Baker Library next to two books with "Baker Library" written underneath. There is also a button that says "AAPI Heritage Month"
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Quick Research Resources

  • Take advantage of Crunchbase's (in-library only) "Diversity Spotlight" feature, where you can filter for U.S. start-ups founded and led by individuals of East, South, and Southeast Asian descent as well as Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, all of which include Asian Americans.

  • Use GuideStar Pro to locate nonprofit organizations who list Indigenous Peoples (which include Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders) and people of Asian descent as populations they serve.

  • View Mintel's reports on "Marketing to Asian Americans" and "Asian Americans' Culture & Community".

  • Browse Statista and find a variety of statistics and facts related to Asian Americans.

  • Explore HBS Cases with Asian American protagonists:

Contemporary Collections

Contemporary Collections aim to support the research and curriculum of the Harvard Business School today and into the future. Collection activities focus on the career and professional development needs of our MBA students and alumni, as well as on access to business content to the Harvard University community at large.

Distinguished Asian American Business Leaders

Distinguished Asian American Business Leaders is a biographical guide of 96 Asian Americans who have had successful business careers. These life stories reflect individual triumphs as well as the trials of families and ethnic groups who have applied their skills and passions for economic prosperity. The item is housed in Baker's Reference Collection.

View Catalog Record
  • A book cover with a purple header and a black and white background of the USA flag. There are also 4 Asian American profile photos featured.
  • A yearbook page with the images, names, and addresses of individuals who attended HBS

    From the 1925-1926 HBS yearbook

  • A biography of Masayuki Tokioka. Includes text and his profile photo.
  • The continuing biography of Masayuki Tokioka. Only text.
  • Scan of a book page featuring Rajat Gupta's profile photo.
  • Scan of a book page describing Rajat Gupta's life.
  • Scan of a page about Rajat Gupta's life continued.
  • Scan of a book page that includes Gerald Tsai's profile photo.
  • Scan of a book about Geald Tsai's life.
  • Scan of a book about Gerald Tsai's life continued.

Masayuki Tokioka (MBA 1927) was the first person of Japanese ancestry to gain an MBA from HBS. He founded Island Insurance Company which is one of—if not the only—locally owned and underwritten insurance companies in Hawaii; it is still in operation today.

His yearbook photo (featured above) comes from the 1925-1926 HBS yearbook, the early editions of which are digitized and searchable. More information about his life and business successes can be found in A Century of Trust: The Story of Masayuki Tokioka.

Rajat Gupta (MBA 1973) served as the first non-Western managing director of McKinsey & Company, driving the firm's global expansion. Memos to and from Gupta, as well as other materials, are part of the research materials about Marvin Bower and McKinsey & Co., 1901-2004.

Gerald Tsai was educated and worked in Boston during the beginning of his career. He would later hold many leadership positions, such as CEO and board member of the American Can Company (later renamed Primerica), whose early corporate filings are part of Baker's collections.

You can download a PDF of the featured content here.

Hawaii Business: Success by 40

Hawaii Business is a locally-owned, monthly publication that covers "big issues impacting our island home, its people, companies and nonprofits, such as climate change, the cost of living, affordable housing, entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership, education and other important issues." Early editions of the publication are part of Baker's non-circulating Serials Collection.

View Catalog Record
  • "Success by 40". Large yellow lettering for 40.
  • A man in glasses behind a cash register holding a plate of food and a call microphone, next to text

    February 1995

  • A man in glasses wearing construction gear squatting down next to a construction project, next to text

    February 1995

  • A woman with large hair in a light colored dress behind a mannequin, next to text

    February 1994

  • A man in a blue outfit holding a very large fish in both arms, next to text

    February 1996

  • A woman in a light colored dress holding a dress of a similar and style and color but much smaller, next to text

    February 1996

  • A man in a patterned shirt and black pants holding a cardboard box in one hand with a commerical plane in the background, next to text

    February 1996

In 1994 (the magazine's 40th year of publication), Hawaii Business began a series titled "Success by 40," which features small business successes by young, local entrepreneurs. The subjects range from fast food chain owners to fashion designers to seafood wholesalers. The stories showcase the diversity of entrepreneurial endeavors at the end of the 20th century in Hawaii.

The above, select stories are from the first three annual features: February 1994, February 1995, and February 1996.

You can download a PDF to read these stories from Hawaii Business.

Special Collections and Archives

Special Collections and Archives collects and makes available the records of business dating from the 14th century to the present and the records of the Harvard Business School since its founding in 1908.

Dr. An Wang and Wang Laboratories

Baker Library Special Collections and Archives holds a collection of the records of Wang Laboratories, Inc., and its founder, Dr. An Wang (1920-1990). Born in Shanghai, China, An Wang earned a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University in 1948. At Harvard’s Computational Laboratory, he invented the magnetic pulse memory core that became the chief technology for computer memory until the microchip was developed in the 1970s. In 1951, he founded Wang Laboratories in Boston. During the 1960s, the company developed a series of successful desktop calculators; in the 1970s and 1980s, it was best known for its microcomputers and word processing systems. At its peak in the 1980s, Wang Laboratories had 23,000 employees and annual revenues of $2 billion.

A man with glasses in a suit with a bow tie holding a cylindrically folded document
A large commercial building in the background with a sign in the foreground that says "WANG"