American Dreams, Still Alive

About the Book

The true story of a Korean - American immigrant as he escaped from North Korean’s atrocious invasion to South Korea and journeyed from the battle fields of the Korean War to pursue his dreams in the United States.

About the Author

The author, William Y. Chey was born in Gijang, South Korea in 1930. He graduated Seoul University, College of Medicine and received M.D. degree in March, 1953, He served as a medical officer in combat of the Republic of Korea during Korean War (1953 to 1954). He emigrated to the the United States in August, 1954 to start his post graduate education and training in clinical medicine and received advanced degrees including M.Sc. in Gastroenterology and D.Sc. in Medical Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania. After finishing fellowships in hepatology and gastroenterology, he was appointed as a full time faculty member in 1962 at Temple University Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pa. He was promoted to associate professor of medicine and the directer of gastrointestinal research in 1968. In 1971,he was recruited by University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY. He was Professor of Medicine and the Founding Director of Isaac Gordon Center for Digestive Disease and Nutrition at the Genesee Hospital. In 1992, he became Directer of Gastroenterogy and Hepatology at University of Rochester Medical Center. He was also the Founding Director of William and Sheila Konar Center for Digestive and Liver Diseases at Strong Memorial Hospital until his retirement in 2000. Dr. Chey trained many clinical and research fellows from the United States and abroad including Asia, Europe, South America, Mid-East and Africa. The majority of them returned to their native countries and are active in the leadership positions. During the following ten years, he enjoyed practicing gastrointestinal medicine. He had enjoyed being invited to many countries as visiting professor and guest speaker. Dr. Chey had memberships in many professional societies of his field. The representative ones are American Gastroenterological Association Fellow, Fellow of American College of Gastroenterology, American Physiological Society. American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, American Pancreatic Association (Past President), American Motility Society and American College of Acupuncture (Past President). He published numerous articles in competitive scientific journals and many chapters in text books, and two books of his specialty and research. He was a member of the editorial board of American Journal of Physiology and Pancreas, He was the Editor-In Chief of Clinical Endoscopy. He served as an active member of National Institute of Health, Surgery and Bioengineering Study Section and a consultant to the Gastrointestinal Drug Advisory Committee, Food and Drug Adminjsttration, Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Chey received a wide variety of honors and awards. He received the V.L. William and Friska Go Award for Life Time Achievement from the American Pancreatic Association, Distinguished Clinician Award and Mentor’s Research Scholar Award from the American Gastroenterological Association, the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Research from the American College of Gastroenterology, Distinguished Service Award from Rochester Academy of Medicine, American Top Physician Award in 2008 from the Consumers’ Research Council of America, Honorary Professor, Catholic University College of Medicine in Seoul South Korea and Visiting Professor, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China and Korea University Medical College in Seoul, Korea.. He has been cited in Marquis Who’s Who, in Medicine and Health Care, in Science and Engineering,, and in the World. He received Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. He has been married to Fan K. Tang since 1959. They have 4 children; William D married to Janine, Donna married to Dale, Richard married to Maura and Laura married to Ric and they have 8 grand children and 2 great grand children.