Who was our 200 Millionth American citizen?
September 16, 2009
What is so special about November 10th? On November 10, 1967 the 200 millionth American was born. His name is Robert Ken Woo, Jr., a Chinese American boy born in Crawford W. Long Hospital (now Emory University Hospital Midtown), in Atlanta, Georgia. Because he is THE 200 millionth American, Robert Woo Jr. received a lot of attention even with his first hint of daylight.
Many pregnant women at the time tried their best to have their baby born at the right moment to win this distinction. It was reported that some doctors tried to slow down or rush some mothers so that their patient could have the prestige of giving birth to the 200 millionth American. Fate had decided though that Robert Ken Woo, Jr. would be that special baby born on November 10th. Fate, it turns out, made an excellent choice.
Life Magazine documented this special American in their December 1, 1967 issue with a five page spread. Life was just one of many media organizations that became a part of Robert’s life. Photographers would regularly show up at Robert’s birthday parties during his youth to capture and memorialize the annual event.
The Woo family, amazingly kept their cool, and young Robert grew up normally without excessive pressure to become someone unusual. America was very lucky that our 200 millionth citizen did all of us proud. He excelled in school, and achieved the highest SAT score in Georgia the year he took it. With his great grades and SAT scores, Robert studied at Harvard where he graduated “magna cum laude”. Several years later, Robert graduated “cum laude” from Harvard Law School to become a lawyer.
It wasn’t long before Robert Woo drew the attention of the best lawyers in the state. He became the first Asian American partner at the Atlanta law firm of King and Spalding, where he specialized in class action litigation involving consumer products. He then moved to the Product Liability Practice Group, where his practice has focused on pharmaceutical and medical device cases.
Robert also had successful siblings. They are all pretty special too. Angie also became a legal beagle, and is the in-house counsel for Scientific Atlanta, Inc. His other sister, Cindy, is an OB/GYN surgeon. Robert’s younger brother, David, became a urologist. The Woo family lovingly nurtured their children into becoming doctors and lawyers - a record that would make any American family proud, especially a Chinese American family.
This story summarizes a lengthier article by Jonathan Tilove, Newhouse News Service, found in the October 2006 issue of the Chinese American Forum, Vol. XXII, No2, the 86th issue.
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