Molly Lao Receives Tow Prize

May 10, 2013

Molly is a senior concentrating in political science and sociology. She has been a Women’s Peer Counselor and is now a community assistant, a member of Brown’s First Generation College Students, and a participant in IM volleyball/tennis. She received a BISP fellowship to Cambodia where she co-produced an international sporting event for disabled people, and the Arthur Liman fellowship this past summer that funded her research with Human Rights First surrounding human rights and the Olympics. Her volunteer work is sparked by her interest in international human rights, where she has taught English and built houses in Cambodia, built schools and removed rubble in Haiti, tutored alongside post-Katrina efforts in New Orleans. She will be a lifelong active advocate for the rights of marginalized populations such as disabled people and women around the world.

The Yat K. Tow Prize was established in 1991 by the family of Yat K. Tow '41, in his memory and is funded by his family and friends. The prize is awarded to a junior undergraduate, graduating senior or graduate student in May of each year. Born in Canton, China, Mr. Tow emigrated to the United States at the age of ten to join his father and grandfather who were pioneers in the Chinese restaurant business. Mr. Tow was, himself, a successful restaurant owner. Yat K. Tow was a prominent Rhode Island business and civic leader throughout his life, serving as a member of the corporations of both Rhode Island Hospital and the former People's Bank. Mr. Tow was a class marshal at the Brown University Bicentennial. He sponsored and hosted international students and families and was an official interpreter for the non-English speaking Chinese community in Rhode Island. Mr. Tow was a member of the Board of Directors of the International Institute of Rhode Island. In 2010, Mr. Tow  was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, the first (and, to date, the only) Asian-American to be so honored.

Click here for more information about the Tow Prize.