The Taiwanese Junior Chamber of Commerce of Georgia honored a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Republican candidate for Secretary of State at its annual “Taste of Taiwan” cultural outreach Aug. 22.
Held at the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North in conjunction with the Taiwanese Economic and Cultural Office and the Overseas Affairs Commission, the chamber presented its 2018 “Cultural Ambassador” awards to Dr. Ray H. J. Wang of Georgia Tech and Brad Raffensperger, a businessman and state legislator.
Dr. Wang teaches and focuses his research on environmental and satellite remote sensing fields. He earned his doctorate at Georgia Tech in 1998. Since then he has served as a board member for numerous non-profit organizations such as the Chinese Community Center, the Monte Jade Southeastern Science and Technology Association and the Chinese American Academic and Professional Association.
Mr. Raffensperger is the CEO and owner of Tendon Systems LLC, a specialty contracting and engineering design firm that operates in 35 states. He also owns and operates specialty steel manufacturing plants based in Columbus and in Forsyth County. He received his master’s of business administration degree from the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. He has been a state representative since 2015 and is a candidate for Georgia’s Secretary of State office.
The chefs Tony Huang and Amo Liang, who flew in from Taiwan for the event, prepared a seven-course meal for the several hundred dinner guests including Crystal Lee, 2014 Miss California, who acted as the master of ceremonies and Jen Lee, a retired staff sergeant, who has been a gold medalist as a member of the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team in 2014 and 2018.
Vincent Liu, the director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Atlanta, noted in his welcoming remarks that Taiwan was voted the World’s Best Food Country in a 2015 CNN poll, and the first Michelin Guide to Taipei was introduced this year. Twenty restaurants in Taipei were awarded 24 Michelin stars.
The Taiwanese Junior Chamber of Commerce of Georgia was established in 2015 as a non-profit with the mission of providing a platform for young Chinese and Taiwanese-American professionals to facilitate the development and growth of their businesses and careers.
To learn more about the ties between Atlanta and Taiwan, sign up to attend “What’s Up Next for Taiwan”: A lunch/dialogue With Director General Vincent Liu, by clicking here.
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