Oral history with Dr. John Paul Quon

              Oral history with Dr. John Paul Quon
F341.5 . M57 vol. 748, pt. 2
Funding for this project provided by The Mississippi State Legislature, The Mississippi Humanities Council, The Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern Mississippi.
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Biography
Dr. John Paul Quon was born June 11, 1942, in Moorhead, Mississippi, to Salk Ngun Quon and Joe Mae Gam Quon. His parents emigrated from China to the United States and ultimately to Mississippi, to participate in a family- owned grocery store. Dr. Quon worked in the store as a child, as did his brothers and sisters; when he was five years old, he was given the responsibility of running the candy counter. His father bought a farm, built a family home there, and farmed in addition to running his grocery store.
His family was prosperous yet frugal. The Chinese families were a close- knit community; many Chinese were merchants who worked Monday through Saturday. Chinese families socialized together for weddings, Red Egg Parties honoring offspring, and other less formal get- togethers. Chinese families routinely sponsored other family members' immigration to the United States and to Mississippi.
Dr. Quon was in the first public school class in Mississippi that allowed the Chinese students to attend; prior to that, the Chinese students were kept out of public schools. The education of the Chinese children was provided by tutors hired by their parents. Dr. Quon earned a B. B. A. in accounting from the University of Mississippi from which he was graduated in 1964. He earned an M. B. A. in accounting from the University of Mississippi in 1965. His advanced study, A. B. D., is in finance from the University of Mississippi. He has held a CPA license from the state of Mississippi since 1985.
From 1965 to 1967, Dr. Quon was a general partner in the family farm and retail grocery store. From 1966 to 1967, he was an instructor at Mississippi Delta Community College. From 1967 to 1968, he was an instructor at Northwest Mississippi Community College. From 1968 to 1971, he was an instructor at the University of Mississippi. From 1971 to the present he has been an assistant professor at Delta State University in the Department of Accountancy and Computer Information Systems.
Dr. Quon is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants ( MSCPA); from 1991 to 1993 he was director of the MSCPA Board of Governors; from 1986 to 1996, and from 1998 to present he has been on the MSCPA Awards, Education, and Scholarships Committee holding the positions of chair, vice chair, and secretary; from 1996 to present he has been on the MSCPA Services to Members Committee; from 1997 to 1998 he was on the
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