Propelled by a blend of creative talent, business savvy, and tenacity, Hugo Shong and Luo Yan are emerging forces in Chinese-American publishing and filmmaking, respectively. Luo (CFA’90), a successful actress and filmmaker based in Los Angeles, and her husband, Shong (COM’87, GRS’90), president of International Data Group-Asia, met as students at Boston University in the 1980s. They returned to campus in March for a special Boston screening of Luo’s 2001 movie, Pavilion of Women, where each announced a gift to the University.

	Hugo Shong (COM'87, GRS'90) and Luo Yan (CFA'90) with theatre arts Professor Jim Spruill in March at the Boston screening of Luo's movie, Pavilion of Women.

Luo has pledged $50,000 to the College of Fine Arts over the next five years to endow the Luo Yan Scholarship Fund, which will be awarded to one or two female CFA students of Asian descent majoring in theater performance or management. For the last ten years, she has owned and operated the merchandizing company Moonstone International and the film distribution company Silver Dreams Productions. That extensive business experience served her well for Pavilion, her first venture as a film producer and screenwriter.

At the screening, Shong announced that he will give an additional $50,000 over the next five years to the Hugo Shong Scholarship Fund, which he established in 1998 with a donation of $50,000. The scholarship is for students of Asian descent studying journalism, film and television, or mass communication at the College of Communication. Shong attended COM on a full scholarship, and he says that without that support, he wouldn’t have been able to come to America. “Coming to BU was one of the most important changes in my career and my life, and I’m very grateful to the College of Communication for that,” he says.

An award-winning reporter, Shong was managing editor of Electronic Business Asia. At International Data Group, an international information technology media, research, and exposition company, he launched Cosmopolitan China, PC World Vietnam, and the Chinese editions of Esquire and Good Housekeeping.

— Tim Stoddard