Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician. He is the current United States Secretary of Commerce and was the 21st Governor of Washington, serving from 1997 to 2005. Locke was the first, and remains the only, Chinese American to serve as governor of a state in United States history.
Locke was born on January 21, 1950 in Seattle, Washington. A third-generation American with paternal ancestry from Taishan, Guangdong in China,...
more
Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician. He is the current United States Secretary of Commerce and was the 21st Governor of Washington, serving from 1997 to 2005. Locke was the first, and remains the only, Chinese American to serve as governor of a state in United States history.
Locke was born on January 21, 1950 in Seattle, Washington. A third-generation American with paternal ancestry from Taishan, Guangdong in China, Locke is the second of five children of James, a native of the United States, and Julie Locke from Hong Kong, which at that time was a dependent territory of the United Kingdom. His parents gave him the Chinese name of 駱家輝 (pronounced Lok Gaa-Fai in Cantonese). He did not learn to speak English until he was five years old.
He graduated with honors from Seattle’s Franklin High School in 1968. Locke achieved Eagle Scout and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.
Through a combination of part-time jobs,...
less
