Yong Chen received his Ph.D. degree from Cornell University. He is associate professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, where he also served as the University's Associate Dean of Graduate Studies from fall 1999 through summer 2004. He is author of Chinese San Francisco 1850-1943: A Transpacific Community (Stanford, 2000). His research on diverse topics such as Chinese American history, U.S. ethnic food, and higher education has been published in various leading academic journals and has received much public attention in the United States and China. He is a main contributor to Civil Rights in America: A Framework for Identifying Significant Sites for the National Park Service, authorized and funded by the U.S. Congress. He is also a regular contributor to an editorial column in World Journal, the largest Chinese newspaper in the U.S and a frequent guest on ETTV, discussing issues pertaining to China, U.S., and Taiwan.

He has done extensive research on the intersection of contemporary Sino-American economic and cultural interactions. He has given public lectures at business schools in the U.S. and China and worked with numerous transnational corporations, such as Haier. His other current research project on American ethnic food in American society has received much attention and recognition across the nation. He has been invited to give lectures across the U.S. and China, by professional organizations such as the International of Association of Culinary Professionals and universities such as Yale University. His food research has been featured in such periodicals as The Chronicle of Higher Education and the Orange County Register. He is the co-curator of a 10-month-long (Sept 2004-June 2005) exhibit on the history of Chinese restaurants in the U.S. in the Museum of Chinese in the Americas in New York City, an exhibit that has received extensive coverage in the press, including the New York Times. There is a recent feature article on him and his food research in the Orange County Register (see www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/01/12/
sections/morning_read/article_374403.php) His work on diverse subjects has been recognized. He has been appointed Guest Professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Senior Research Fellow at Peking University. He has received the Chun-Hui Award from Ministry of Education, China.