James S.C. Chao

James Si-Cheng Chao (; born December 29, 1927) is a Chinese-American businessman, philanthropist, and former sea captain. He is the founder of the shipping company Foremost Group. He is also known as the father of Elaine Chao and father-in-law of United States Senator Mitch McConnell.

Early life and education Chao was born on December 29, 1927, in Malu, a small, rural farming village in Jiading County outside Shanghai, Republic of China. His parents were Yi-Ren Chao, an elementary school principal, and Yu-Chin Hsu Chao. They were farmers who "emphasized the value of education".

Chao attended schools near Shanghai, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University (formerly National Chiao Tung University) and Wusong Merchant Marine College, where he majored in navigation. He finished his coursework in 1949 and went to sea as a cadet on a merchant vessel. At the climax of the Chinese Civil War, Chao's ship went to Taiwan, where it remained. He moved to the United States in 1958, settling in New York City the same year. He earned a master's degree in management from St. John's University in 1964.

Foremost Group

In 1964, after earning his MBA, Chao founded Foremost Group, a shipping, trading, and finance conglomerate based in New York. Chao has led the global shipping industry in incorporating "greener", more environmentally friendly designs and technology into his company's fleet of new vessels, some of the world's largest bulk carriers. The center is dedicated to managerial training and executive education, the first building at Harvard Business School to be named after an East Asian woman or any person bearing an East Asian surname.

Controversy Chao's daughter Elaine was U.S. Secretary of Labor during the presidency of George W. Bush and later Secretary of Transportation during the first presidency of Donald Trump. During that time, she was accused of using her office to promote her family's shipping business by appearing in interviews with Chao, and she asked Department of Transportation staff to promote her father's biography or to edit her father's Wikipedia article. An investigation and report ensued. Investigation materials were provided to prosecutors, who declined to charge any crime. In 1949, each relocated separately to Taiwan at the culmination of the Chinese Civil War, and they married in 1950. In 1958, Chao left his family behind when he moved to the United States, where they joined him in 1961. Ruth Mulan Chu Chao died on August 2, 2007, following a battle with lymphoma. The Chaos had six daughters: Elaine, Jeanette, May, Christine, Grace, and Angela. The eldest three daughters were born in Taiwan; the youngest three were born in the United States.

Chao's oldest daughter is Elaine Chao, who is the first woman of Asian Pacific American descent appointed to a US President's Cabinet. She served as Secretary of Labor from 2001 to 2009, and as Secretary of Transportation from 2017 to 2021.

Chao's daughter Angela succeeded him as CEO of Foremost Group in 2018. She died in a car accident in February 2024.

Awards and honors Chao was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree from Niagara University in 1992. He was awarded the "Ellis Island Medal of Honor" (2005). The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizen and Immigration Service recognized him in February 2008 as an Outstanding American by Choice. Also, Nyack College conferred upon him the honorary D.Litt. degree. the Legacy Award from the National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship (National ACE), and the Coast Guard Foundation Award.