I met C.K. and his wife, Teresa, at the 2002 CNAC Reunion this past weekend (Sept. 26-28). C.K. worked in the financial area for CNAC. Today C.K. and Teresa own and operate NORTHRIDGE Travel Service in Northridge, California. The following is from the California State University Northridge web site.  C.K. and Teresa Tseng, one of the San Fernando Valley's leading Chinese immigrant business couples and small business advocates, are the owners and operators of Northridge Travel Service, one of the region's longest operating travel agencies. The couple has been married for 54 years (since 1949) and has operated their business continuously since 1967. The recipient of many awards and honors, C.K. Tseng serves on the boards of the Northridge/Porter Ranch Chamber of Commerce, the Northridge Business Improvement District and the Community Advisory Committee of Comerica Bank. He was the Honorary Mayor of Northridge in 2002 and the 1985 recipient of the California State Assembly's "Small Businessman of the Year" award. He is the chairman of Northridge Travel Service. Teresa Tseng, president of Northridge Travel Service, started working for the company 40 years ago (in 1963) and later purchased the business in 1967. In the late 1970s, she also founded a related business, Panda Tours, which was a pioneering company in helping expand travel and tourism between the United States and mainland China following the normalization of U.S.-China relations. Northridge Travel today has more than 40 employees. The Tsengs also have extensive and longstanding ties to California State University, Northridge. In the early 1980s, they provided a scholarship to Chinese actress Joan Chen to help her stay here so she could attend the University's exceptional film program. C.K. Tseng served as the president of the University's President's Associates support group in 1984. And, through the years, the couple has regularly hired Cal State Northridge students as interns and employees. The couple moved to the San Fernando Valley in 1960, first settling in Granada Hills, and later moving to Northridge in 1972. C.K. Tseng, 84, was born in Canton, China, and Teresa Tseng, 79, was born in Shanghai, China. The couple has seven grandchildren and three sons: Roland, a business entrepreneur and art collector; Nelson, the vice president and general manager of Northridge Travel Service, and Eugene, an environmental attorney and professor. During World War II, C.K. Tseng was involved in the airlift and transportation of war supplies in the China-Burma Theater. He later worked for 18 years to help build Civil Air Transport (CAT), a pioneering passenger airline for the region, a role that ultimately led to the couple coming to the United States. In the following years, C.K. Tseng also has been a strong advocate for small businesses, economic development and promoting opportunities for minorities, including serving several times as a California delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business.  or would like to be added to the CNAC e-mail distribution list, please let the CNAC Web Editor, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |