Shwu-ing Fu

Shwu-ing Fu was born in 1958 in Taiwan, as the second eldest of seven children. Her father, Wang Shouzhi (deceased), a native of Shandong, China, arrived in Taiwan during the civil war where he met Shwu-ing’s mother, Chen Ho Mei. Shwu-ing's father, a highly accomplished calligrapher and police officer, did his best to instill a sense of law and order, justice, and impartiality within his community. These traits are reflected in Shwu-ing’s personality, and through her talents in calligraphy, design, and art.

Shwu-ing attended Taoyuan Elementary School and in 1971, graduated into Taoyuan Zhensheng Junior High school, where she graduated in 1974. Following her passion and love of art, Shwu-ing enrolled at Ming Chuan College of Business to study commercial design. Shwu-ing’s dedication to learning, coupled with her genuine curiosity and appetite for excellence, earned her the highest praises from her teachers and peers. Throughout her studies, Shwu-ing’s originality and precision of her design portfolio garnered numerous recognitions and prestigious awards in Taiwan.

In between semesters, Shwu-ing worked numerous jobs to help provide financial support to her family. Her jobs ranged from working at a factory painting umbrellas, cleaning offices, and delivering documents. She also engaged in work-study internships in various media companies to gain experience.

After graduating Ming Chuan College in 1979 with a degree in Commercial Design, Shwu-ing accepted a job offer at a reputable interior design firm. At her job, Shwu-ing excelled through her professionalism and talent, rapidly gaining a reputation for handling the highest level clients and the most well-known cases in the Taiwanese interior design industry.

Shwu-ing met Mr. Pin-Sheng Fu at a party and soon fell in love. In 1983, she married Pin-Sheng and accompanied her husband to the United States, where he studied for a graduate degree at Arizona State University. Following graduation, Pin-Sheng quickly secured a promising job and the couple decided to call Phoenix, Arizona, their new home. Soon after, Pin-Sheng and Shwu-ing became proud American citizens.

The Fu family grew over the years as Shwu-ing and Pin-Sheng welcomed a son and daughter. While taking on the role of mother and wife, Shwu-ing worked as a calligraphy, arts, and painting teacher at the Chinese Linguistic School of Phoenix. She also poured her creative energy into special projects at the school, including the graphic design of magazines, posters, and banners. Shwu-ing also provided designs and production support for numerous Chinese-American events around the state, such as the Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese School Summer Camp, the Chinese New Year celebration, sporting events, cultural exhibitions and numerous other activities. It goes without saying that Shwu-ing’s caring involvement in the Asian American community positively influenced her children’s development growing up as first generation Arizonans.

As her children grew up and became more independent and mature, Shwu-ing, at the encouragement of her husband and children, decided to return to her original passion: design. After surveying the effect computer technology had on design, Shwu-ing decided to obtain a full degree in Computer Graphic Design at Mesa Community College. Shwu-ing’s foresight allowed her to adapt to the evolving design profession. As a mother, student, and teacher, Shwu-ing found time to apply the skills she learned in class as a part of the student publication at Mesa Community College. There, she gained invaluable knowledge about print publishing and earned the respect of friends, colleagues, and teachers for her work while being a full-time mother and student.

Shwu-ing’s belief in forging a greater understanding between the Asian-American community and the broader community ultimately led her to become the owner and Publisher of the Asian American Times. As the first bi-lingual news journal in Arizona, Shwu-ing nurtured the Asian American Times as a unifying tool for the community to grow together by sharing local events, news, and business opportunities. Under her professional and level-headed leadership, the Asian American Times flourished. In recent years, the Asian American Times has been invited to cover exclusive events and editorial pieces featuring President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, Senator John McCain, and former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano.

While Shwu-ing understood that the honest coverage of high-profile news was important, she believed that the heart of the newspaper consisted of meaningful pieces produced by local journalists invested in their home communities. This was reflected by section in the paper dedicated to publishing beautiful artwork created by children at local schools, columns covering personal stories of everyday hardworking Americans, and general interest articles that featured thoughtful and informative writing by a wide range of reputable authors. As the Asian American Times publication grew and blossomed, so did its surrounding community.

In addition to her role as Publisher of the Asian American Times, Shwu-ing was actively involved with the Asian-American community and several causes she believed in. For the last two years, she served as Co-Editor of the July 4th Celebration Program Book and the Miss Phoenix Chinese Beauty Pageant for the Chinese United Association of Greater Phoenix. Shwu-ing also helped the U.S. Census Bureau reach the Asian population and operated an annual booth for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, among many other contributions to her beloved community.

To her friends, Shwu-ing will be fondly remembered for her trustworthiness, integrity, and commitment to fulfill promises. She will also be remembered for the unwavering support she selflessly dedicates to her dearest friends. Those who have had the pleasure of working with Shwu-ing point to her reliability, creativity, fairness, attention to detail, and profound insight, as irreplaceable qualities in a colleague. For all, Shwu-ing’s legacy is a constant reminder that hard work and dedication is a way of life.

In her personal life, Shwu-ing enjoyed going to the cinema with her family; she loved classical romantic films and literature, the opera, and interior design. She was happiest when spending time with her family and friends, whether it was shopping, traveling, or eating delicious food (with king crab being a particular favorite). Over the course of her career in graphic design, Shwu-ing also developed a love affair with Apple products. There were few things that made her happier than visiting her mother, brothers, and sisters in Taiwan.

Shwu-ing lives on through her loving husband, Pin-Sheng Fu, their two children, Joseph and Quinney Fu and her mother and siblings in Taiwan. Drawing inspiration from their mother’s incredible ethos and unconditional love, Shwu-ing’s children hope to continue their mother’s proud legacy by working to achieve their dreams in the same spirit that Shwu-ing has over the course of her beautiful life.