Dr. Teresa Williams-Leon, Associate Dean of the College of Humanities & Professor of Asian American Studies at California State University Northridge. Shown here as a panelist in the Discover Nikkei program, "Revelations & Resilience: Exploring the Realities of Hapa-ness" held on Saturday, April 12, 2008 in the Democracy Forum at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, Los Angeles, California.

A pioneer, Dr. Williams-Leon taught some of the very first courses on Asian Americans of multiracial ancestry and has done extensive research on multiracial/multiethnic identity development, including co-editing Sum of Our Parts: Mixed Heritage Asian Americans and No Passing Zone. Dr. Williams-Leon shares her heritage of Japanese and European American ancestry with her Mexican American husband and daughter at home in Los Angeles.

Photo by Richard Murakami.