Candidate for
Council Member; City of San Gabriel

Born the son of a diplomat, Phil spent his itinerate youth in many countries across several continents where he experienced the culture and language of peoples in Asia, South America and North America. He is fluent in English, conversant in Mandarin Chinese and Spanish, and is functional in Korean. This extraordinary upbringing has instilled in him a high degree of appreciation for the many differences--ethnic, social, economic, etc.--people bring. Phil earned a Bachelor's Degree in Literature/Writing from the University of California, San Diego, and later procured a Masters in Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing (emphasis in poetry) from San Diego State University. He is also a published author.

Currently a Professor of English at Cerritos College (with 16 years of teaching experience), Phil teaches and mentors over 150 students every year. He teaches courses in creative writing, literature and composition. Phil is also the Founder and Director of Cerritos College's Faculty Senate Civic Education Initiative. The main purpose is to engage students and the community at large in crucial and timely social and political issues. For all of his labor and dedication to the faculty, staff and students of Cerritos College, Phil was nominated for, and won the Outstanding Faculty Award for the 2008-2009 academic year. This is an august honor because it requires numerous nominations from both the faculty and the student body.

In his time as a San Gabriel school board member, Phil has helped revise the district's Technology Master Plan to include a much-needed educational/academic component as a main directive; also, as official board liaison to the San Gabriel Educational Foundation (SEF), Phil worked to update, enlarge and redefine the duties of the SEF Executive Director as well as the mission/focus of SEF itself. Most recently, he has been an integral part of two pilot programs aimed at elementary and middle school kids: 1) an educational and awareness program dealing with health, wellness and obesity, and 2) (with Washington School as the test site) a friendship/culture exchange program with elementary students from China. He is also working with parents to preserve the GATE program.

Phil is married to his wife, Cindy and they have two daughters Caitlin (天怡, almost 3) and Cameron (天敏, 9 months). Both will attend San Gabriel's schools and will be raised in the city of San Gabriel, which profoundly entwines the Hu family's future with San Gabriel.