Locke, Gary Faye, 1950-

<p>Gary Locke was born on January 21, 1950, in Seattle, Washington, into a family of Chinese immigrants. After growing up in Seattle, Locke attended Yale University, receiving a bachelor's degree in political science in 1972. Three years later, he graduated from Boston University with a law degree. After graduating from law school, Locke served as a deputy prosecutor for King County in his home state of Washington. He was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1982, where he served on the judiciary and appropriations committees. In 1993, he became the King County executive. In 1996, Locke became the first Chinese-American governor in the United States when he was elected governor of Washington. He served two terms as governor, concentrating on improving education and breaking down international trade barriers in trade-dependent Washington. After leaving office, he worked for Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, an international law firm where he co-chaired the firm's China practice.</p>

<p>Locke served as secretary of commerce under President Barack Obama from 2009 until 2011. As secretary, Locke helped implement President Obama's agenda for economic recovery, was the administration's point person for achieving the President's National Export Initiative, and presided over an increase in U.S. exports. Locke specifically worked to improve U.S. trade relations with China. During his time at the Department of Commerce, U.S. exports to China increased, and Locke co-chaired two sessions of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, which resulted in significant changes to U.S.-Chinese trade policy. He also worked to make U.S. companies more competitive by shortening the patent pending period at the Patent and Trademark Office and easing licensing burdens for exports. In 2011, President Obama appointed Locke as the U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China.</p>

<p>GARY LOCKE was born into an immigrant family and spent his first six years in Seattle’s Yesler Terrace, a public housing project for families of World War II veterans. He worked in his father’s grocery store, became an Eagle Scout, and graduated with honors from Seattle’s Franklin High School in 1968. Through a combination of part-time jobs, financial aid, and scholarships, Locke attended Yale University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1972. After earning a law degree from Boston University in 1975, he worked for several years as a deputy prosecutor in King County, prosecuting people for crimes such as robbery and murder. In 1982 Locke was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives, where he served on the House Judiciary and Appropriations Committees, in his final five years as chair of the House Appropriations Committee. Locke was elected chief executive of King County in 1993 and took on all of the challenges facing Washington’s most complex urban area. He was elected to his first term as governor in 1996 – the first Chinese-American governor in U.S. history. On November 7, 2000, he was reelected to his second term. As governor, he worked to make Washington a better place to live, work, and raise a family by making the state’s schools among the best in the nation; strengthening the state’s economy with an efficient, effective transportation system and business climate; and making state government more accessible and user-friendly while ensuring its delivery of needs at a reasonable and sustainable cost. On May 1, 2009, Locke was sworn in as U.S. Secretary of Commerce. He later served as the U.S. Ambassador to China from August 2011 through February 2014.</p>

<p>Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 10th United States ambassador to China (2011–14). He was previously the 21st Governor of Washington (1997–2005) and served in the Obama administration as United States Secretary of Commerce (2009–11). Locke is the first governor in the continental United States of East Asian descent, and is the only Chinese American ever to have served as a governor of any state. He was also the first Chinese American to serve as the U.S. ambassador to China.</p>

<p>Gary Locke was born on January 21, 1950, in Seattle, Washington, and spent his early years living in the Yesler Terrace public housing project. A third-generation Chinese American with paternal ancestry from Jilong village, Taishan, Guangdong, China, Locke is the second of five children of James Locke, who served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Fifth Armored Division during World War II. His wife, Julie, is from Hong Kong, which at that time was a British Crown Colony/British Hong Kong. His paternal grandfather left China in the 1890s and moved to the United States, where he worked as a houseboy in Olympia, Washington, in exchange for English lessons. Gary Locke did not learn how to speak English until he was five years old and entered kindergarten.</p>

<p>Locke graduated with honors from Seattle's Franklin High School in 1968. He achieved Eagle Scout rank and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America. Through a combination of part-time jobs, financial aid, and scholarships, Locke attended Yale University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1972. He later received his juris doctor from Boston University School of Law in 1975.
In 1982, Locke was elected to Washington state's South Seattle district in the Washington House of Representatives, where he served as the chair of the Appropriations Committee. Eleven years later, in 1993, Locke was elected as King County's executive, defeating incumbent Tim Hill.</p>