1959-61: Del Mar College
1963: BA, University of Texas
1967: University of Texas School of Law
CAREER:
1969-73: Associate attorney, Butler & Binion, Houston
1967-69: Reid & Priest, New York
1992-2015: Chairman, Asia Society Texas Center
1973-2008: President, Tindall & Foster
2009-14: Cochairman, Foster Quan LLP
2014-present: Chairman, Foster LLP
2014-present: Chairman, US-China Partnerships
Rodeos to rockets: The Texan who tightened ties with China
For Charles Foster, the moment when Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping climbed down from a Western stagecoach and put on a 10-gallon Stetson cowboy hat in Simonton, Texas, was thrilling and symbolic.
"I knew then that this was a historic moment, it was so symbolic - China's leader in a Mao suit wearing a Western symbol, smiling at people. At that moment, I knew history was being made," said Foster, who was among the 100 VIPs invited to join Deng at a rodeo in the small town outside Houston in February 1979.
More than three decades after that trip, Foster, the founding chairman of US-China Partnerships and head of the Texas chapter of the Asia Society, was again thrilled to see Deng's cowboy hat on display at the National Museum of China in central Beijing. However, someone had carefully flattened the top of the hat.
Over the years, Foster managed to convey the information that Stetsons are supposed to have a crease on top - and when he returned to the museum, to his relief, the hat was displayed correctly.
Foster's interest in China began in 1972 when the United States president, Richard Nixon, and his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, visited the Chinese capital. The trip ended 25 years of separation between the two sides.
"To me, it was an out-of-this-world experience, like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the moon. I was fascinated and read everything I could," Foster said.
At that time, he began to form a personal relationship with then Houston oilman George H.W. Bush, who in 1975 became the US envoy to China.
Foster, who is chairman of global immigration law firm Foster LLP, has forged many strong bonds with China since first visiting the country in 1979 as a member of the US-China Peoples Friendship Association. Back then, he saw Chinese people dressed primarily in gray and green, and Beijing's streets were full of bicycles.
In the mid-1980s, he met Chinese actress Chen Ye (now Lily Chen Foster) who was studying at the University of Houston. They fell in love, married and raised two sons who speak fluent Chinese.
