ow do you cull hundreds of uniquely inspired and inspiring achievements and compile a list like this? 
     Painstakingly -- and with the humbling recognition that lists like this mean nothing to those they include and little more to those they omit. Every omission is mostly a function of limited time and energy. Every ranking is the product of judgments reflective more of our own limited knowledge than of the actual achievements we were considering. 
     So much for the caveats. Now our method. We considered several hundred Asian American achievers in every field for which information is publicly available. We then valued and ranked candidates based on our appraisal of their positive impact, firstly, in inspiring other Asian Americans, and secondly, in inspiring Americans at large.

     An example: Filipino American quarterback Roman Gabriel is ranked behind French-Open winner Michael Chang because Gabriel's ethnicity wasn't publicized until two decades after he retired. That limited his cumulative impact on young Asian Americans and on the perception others have of Asians. Some will question why we left out people more famous than many we included. Fame doesn't equal positive impact. Serial killers are famous but have less positive impacts than shoeshine boys. 
     We also weighed the social climate in which these men and women made their mark. Consider a one-armed World War II veteran who rose to prominence as a Senator in an age when some barbers refused to cut his hair. Consider an actor who made himself the world's top star in an age when Hollywood relegated Asians to playing servants. 
     This is a living list, to be adjusted as time reveals more inspiring Asian Americans or amplifies the impact of those listed.

http://goldsea.com/Personalities/Inspiring/inspiring.html