John Fugh

Early life

Fugh was born in Beijing. He was the son of Philip Fugh (Chinese: 傅涇波; pinyin: Fu Jīngbō), who was a Manchu noble from the Fuca clan, long time senior staff to John Leighton Stuart, the President of Yenching University and Ambassador of U.S. to China. John Fugh moved to the United States with his family in 1950, when he was 15 years old.

Fugh attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in international relations. In 1957, Fugh became a United States citizen and entered George Washington University Law School, from which he later graduated with a Juris Doctor degree.

Fugh became a member of the District of Columbia Bar on November 21, 1960. Fugh also attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and was a graduate of the Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.

Career

In 1961, Fugh was commissioned into the US Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. He was stationed in San Francisco, Vietnam, and Europe, and was part of the Military Assistance Advisory Group for China in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan) from 1969 to 1972. From 1973 to 1976, Fugh served as the legal advisor to the Ballistic Missile Defense Office. From 1976 to 1978, Fugh held the position of Staff Judge Advocate for the Third Armored Division in Frankfurt, Germany. From 1979 to 1982, Fugh was the legal advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower and Reserve Affairs). From 1982 to 1984, Fugh served as the Chief of Army Litigation.

In 1984, Fugh was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, and became the Assistant Judge Advocate General for Civil Law. In this position, he created the Army's first environmental law division and the procurement fraud division. He was the first Chinese American to become a general in the United States Army.

Fugh was then promoted to The Judge Advocate General (TJAG), a position he held from July 26, 1991 to September 30, 1993. As TJAG, Fugh was legal advisor to the Army Chief of Staff for the Persian Gulf War.

During his time as The Judge Advocate General, Fugh established a human rights training program for developing countries and published the War Crimes Report, the first American effort since World War II to systematically document enemy war crimes. Fugh formed the Desert Storm Assessment Team to study Judge Advocate General Corps doctrine and combat roles.

Fugh retired from active duty in 1993 with the rank of Major General, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by the Army Chief of Staff.

After retiring from the Army, Fugh joined the Richmond, Virginia-headquartered law firm of McGuire, Woods, Battle and Boothe as a partner in its Washington, D. C. office. In 1995, Fugh joined McDonnell Douglas-China as President, responsible for strategic direction of business in China. Following the merger of McDonnell Douglas with Boeing, Fugh served as Executive Vice President of Boeing China, Inc. In 1997, Fugh joined Enron International China as Chairman, developing relations with the Chinese government.

Retirement and death

Fugh retired from Enron in 2001 and was then active in Sino-American relations, co-chairing and later chairing the Committee of 100, a non-partisan membership organization of over 150 prominent Chinese Americans, including I.M. Pei and Yo Yo Ma. Its dual mission is to encourage a constructive relationship between the U.S. and Greater China, as well as to strengthen Chinese American participation in American life. Fugh was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Atlantic Council of the United States, as well as a board member of the National Chinese American Memorial Foundation, and a member of the Asia Society's Washington Center Advisory Committee, until his death on May 11, 2010, at the age of 75 due to heart attack.

Fugh was married and is survived by his wife June Chung (Chinese: 宗毓珍; pinyin: Zōng Yùzhēn), Connie Chung's elder sister, and their two children, Justina and Jarrett. They lived together in Virginia until Fugh's death.

Awards

In 2004, Fugh was awarded the Chinese American Pioneer Award by the Organization of Chinese Americans for: "Illustrious accomplishments in his field, and contribution to the Chinese-American community." In 2008, Fugh was recognized as an Outstanding American by Choice at a White House ceremony by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In 2008 Fugh received the Trailblazer Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).

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