| Born Wah Kong Chan （陈华江）in Guangzhou (Canton), China, James Chan grew up in Hong Kong and graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1970 with a B.A. Honors degree in geography and geology. In 1971, he came to America to pursue a master's degree at the University of Chicago, which he received in 1973, also in geography. In 1977, he received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in geography.
James Chan began his professional life as assistant professor of geography at Boston Univeristy in 1977. From 1978 through February 1980, he was associate professor of geography at the State University of New York at Cortland.
The opening of China to trade with the West in 1979 presented James Chan with an opportunity that he promptly embraced. In 1981, he left academic teaching to take up a position as China Area Manager and, one year later, International Promotion Manager at Academic Press, Inc., a subsidiary of the Fortune 500 publishing company, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (HBJ). During his two-year stay at Academic Press, Inc., James Chan exported American books and journals successfully to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and the ASEAN countries.
In 1983, James Chan resigned from his corporate job to found his independent consulting practice, Asia Marketing and Management. In 1987, James Chan became a naturalized U.S. citizen. In 2000, he published his book, Spare Room Tycoon (http://www.SpareRoomTycoon.com.) He lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. |
