He married Katy Wu in 1963 and has two children. In 1966,he joined the faculty of the University of Delaware,where he became a professor of physics and astronomy. He retired in 2002 after 36 years.
Political career
Woo in 1984.
In his first attempt at public office,Woo was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1984. He won the Democratic primary election by defeating two veteran state senators,Nancy W. Cook of Dover and David McBride of New Castle. In the general election,he defeated Republican Battle R. Robinson of Georgetown,who was the first woman to practice law in Sussex County and the assistant legal counsel to retiring Governor Pete du Pont,winning by just 429 votes. Woo thus became one of the highest-ranking Chinese American public officeholders in the nation and served one term from January 15,1985 until January 20,1989.
Woo narrowly won the Democratic primary election for U.S. Senator in 1988,defeating Samuel S. Beard,an heir to a railroad fortune and resident of Greenville,by just 71 votes. In fact,the election appeared to be lost until an error in the tabulation was discovered,which changed the result. Nevertheless,Woo lost the general election to the incumbent Republican Senator William Roth. Likewise,in 1992,he was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House from Delaware's sole congressional district,but lost the election to Mike Castle by twelve points.
Woo became an independent in 2000 and announced his intention not to accept a federal appointment in order to advance public perception of his neutrality without any personal partisan benefit.[2]
Professional career
Woo is a leader in the greater Chinese American community throughout the country from which his political activities dependably received strong financial backing. He is the founding president of the 80-20 Initiative,a group that attempts to organize Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) into a swing bloc-vote in presidential elections,intending to induce both major political parties to take the interests of the APA community into consideration. He also serves as a professor emeritus of physics[3] and trustee of the University of Delaware from 1976-1982,[4] and an Institute Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School (1989).[5]
After he retired as a trustee,the University of Delaware's Faculty Senate passed a written tribute thanking him for "His courage,integrity and indepedence of thought (which) enable him to set a performance standard of the highest quality."[2]
A life-sized picture of him is displayed in the National Museum of American History in Washington,D.C.[6] Another picture of him is in an interactive display in the lobby of Asia Society in New York City. In 2000,A Magazine ranked him the 6th of the 25 Most Influential Asian Americans.
Since retiring from academia,Woo has shifted to volunteer work. He is the founding president of two national organizations:the 80-20 Educational Foundation,Inc. (EF),a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with assets of about US$8.4 million,and the 80-20 Asian American Empowerment PAC,with assets of about US$200,000.[7] While financially independent,both organizations share the mission of advancing equal opportunity and justice for Asian Americans. Together,they maintain an email list of more than 156,000 Asian American subscribers and distribute weekly e-newsletters. All officers and board members of both organizations serve as volunteers and contribute financially.[8]
Under Woo’s leadership,the PAC has played a role in national politics. During the 2008 presidential campaign,nine of the ten Democratic candidates including Barack Obama,Joe Biden,and Hillary Clinton signed written responses to the PAC’s questionnaire affirming their commitment to issues important to Asian Americans.[8] In 2023,the PAC targeted Representative Michelle Steel of California’s 45th congressional district,ultimately contributing to her defeat in her reelection campaign.[9]
The Educational Foundation has focused on legal and educational equality,most notably by supporting Students for Fair Admissions in its decade-long case against Harvard University.[5] The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against Harvard’s admissions policies was described by the Foundation as a landmark victory for Asian American applicants to elite universities.[7] Following the decision,EF engaged in self-examination and continued outreach to highlight the broader implications of the case for equal opportunity in higher education.[9]
Electoral history
Elections are held on the first Tuesday after November 1. The Lieutenant Governor takes office the third Tuesday of January and has a four-year term.
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