Jan C. Ting

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Jan Ting

|image = Jan Ting.png

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|12|17}}

|birth_place = Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.

|death_date =

|death_place =

|party = Republican (before 2008)
Independent (2008–present)

|spouse = Helen Page

|education = Oberlin College (BA)
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (MA)
Harvard University (JD)

}}

Jan Ching-an Ting ({{lang-zh|c=丁景安|p=Dīng Jǐngān}}; born December 17, 1948) is a Professor of Law at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Delaware in the 2006 U.S. Senate election, but two years later Ting left the Republican Party in a dispute over his endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Early years

Ting was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, son of Dr. Sik Woo Ting, a Chinese immigrant who came to the United States in 1938 with his wife, to continue their studies after the Japanese invasion of China.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7h1AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Ting,+jan%22+AND+%221948%22|title = Who's who Among Asian Americans, 1994-95|isbn = 9780810394339|last1 = Unterburger|first1 = Amy L.|year = 1994| publisher=Gale Research }} Ting's father received his medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1943, joined the U.S. Army as a medical officer during World War II and saw action at the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle for Germany. Dr. Sik Woo Ting received his U.S. citizenship while on active duty with the U.S. Army in France in 1945.

Personal life

Jan Ting is a 1966 graduate of Lowrey High School in Dearborn, Michigan, a 1970 graduate of Oberlin College where he majored in history, and he received a Master of Arts degree in Asian Studies from the East–West Center of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1972.{{cite web |title= Jan Ting |work= Beasley School of Law |publisher= Temple University |accessdate=December 29, 2010 |url= http://www.law.temple.edu/pages/Faculty/N_Faculty_Ting_Main.aspx}} He received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1975. He resides in Wilmington, Delaware with his wife, Helen Page Ting, a physician. They have two daughters, Margaret and Mary.

Professional career

File:Jan C Ting.jpg

Ting joined the faculty of Temple University School of Law in 1977. He taught courses in taxation, immigration, citizenship, and national security. He has since retired. In 1990, he was appointed by President George H. W. Bush as Assistant Commissioner at the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the U.S. Department of Justice.{{cite web |title= Panel: Should Judges Set Immigration Policy? |date= June 2009 |work= Center for Immigration Studies |first= Mark, moderator |last= Krikorian |url= http://www.cis.org/Transcript/PlenaryPowerPanel }} He served in this capacity until 1993, when he returned to the faculty at Temple University, serving as director of the Graduate Tax Program from 1994 to 2001. He has also taught as a visiting professor at Widener University in Wilmington. He is also a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.{{cite web|title=Jan C. Ting |work=Foreign Policy Research Institute |accessdate=December 30, 2010 |url=http://www.fpri.org/about/people/ting.html |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103150235/http://fpri.org/about/people/ting.html |archive-date=January 3, 2011 }} He serves on the boards of the Delaware Historical Society and the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

Ting testified before the 9/11 Commission in December 2003 on the subject of immigration and national security.{{cite news |title= Statement of Jan Ting to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States |date= December 8, 2003 |work= National Commission on Terrorist Attachs Upon the United States |url= http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing6/witness_ting.htm }} Ting has also testified before the United States Congress, and has published articles on the topics of taxation, immigration, and national security.{{cite news|title=Jan C. Ting |work=Bloomberg Businessweek |publisher=Bloomberg, L.P. |accessdate=December 29, 2010 |url=http://www.businessweek.com/bios/Jan_Ting.htm |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418023229/http://www.businessweek.com/bios/Jan_Ting.htm |archive-date=April 18, 2011 }} He has been quoted in news reports and published commentary in various media including The Philadelphia Inquirer,{{cite news |title= Not all born here are born citizens |work= The Philadelphia Inquirer |first= Jan C |last= Ting |date= August 24, 2010 |url= http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/101359474.html}} New York Times,{{cite news |title=No Need for a Warrant, You're an Immigrant |work=The New York Times |first=Julia |last=Preston |date=October 14, 2007 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/weekinreview/14preston.html }} The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post,{{cite news |title=Immigrant Laws Tread Uncharted Legal Path |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Karin |last=Brulliard |date=August 28, 2007 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/27/AR2007082701735.html}} the Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio,{{cite news |title= Alito Asylum Rulings Raise Questions |date=November 23, 2005 |work= All Things Considered |publisher= National Public Radio |format= transcript |url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5025328 }} PBS Newshour,{{cite news |title= Immigration Activists Seek Action From Obama |date= March 22, 2010 |work= PBS Newshour |publisher= Public Broadcasting System |format= transcript |url= https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june10/immigration_03-22.html|archive-url= https://archive.today/20120910000141/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june10/immigration_03-22.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= September 10, 2012}} ABC Nightline, the NBC Today Show, Dateline, and Evening News programs. A frequent guest on CN-8, Fox News, and MSNBC, he continues to be called on to discuss current topics related to immigration and national security. He is a panelist on the public affairs program "Inside Story" on WPVI-TV, Channel 6-ABC in Philadelphia.

Political career

Ting was appointed by Governor Michael N. Castle as chairman of the Delaware State Personnel Commission. In 2006 he was endorsed by the Delaware Republican convention as the party's candidate in the 2006 U.S. Senate election.{{cite web |url=http://voteting.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061101200829/http://voteting.com/ |archive-date=November 1, 2006 |title=Jan Ting for Senate |accessdate=December 29, 2010 }} Ting narrowly defeated primary opponent Michael D. Protack for the nomination, and was himself defeated by incumbent U.S. Senator Thomas R. Carper in the November 2006 election. Ting has also been a regional GOP chair and three-time representative to the Republican national convention. {{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}

Departure from the Republican Party

In 1996, Ting was a delegate to the Republican National Convention and endorsed Bob Dole for president.{{cite news |title= Kind Words and Cross Fingers |format= transcript |date= August 15, 1996 |work= PBS Newshour |publisher= Public Broadcasting System |url= https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/august96/kwame_delegates_8-15.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/19970617052420/http://www1.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/august96/kwame_delegates_8-15.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= June 17, 1997 }} In the 2008 primary elections, Ting was an advisor to Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, and expressed support for candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. In the general election, however, he was discovered to have contributed to Barack Obama for president, observed attending a rally for Obama,{{cite news |title= Former GOP Senate candidate supporting Obama |agency= Associated Press |work= WPVI-TV |publisher= ABC |date= August 2, 2008 |url= https://6abc.com/archive/6303037/ }} and when asked cited his concerns about John McCain's immigration policy and support for the Iraq War.{{cite news|title=Delaware GOP ousts professor |work=The Temple News Online |publisher=Temple University |date=September 2, 2008 |first=Holly |last=Otterbein |url=http://temple-news.com/2008/09/02/delaware-gop-ousts-professor/ |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231133046/http://temple-news.com/2008/09/02/delaware-gop-ousts-professor/ |archive-date=December 31, 2010 }} In April 2008, Bill Sahm, the chair of the Brandywine Region of the Delaware Republican Party, summoned Ting to a meeting where he was asked about his support for the Democratic candidate and his 25-year membership on his election district's Republican committee. As Sahm later recalled, Ting asked if he was being asked to resign from the Republican party; Sahm replied, "If you can't be loyal, that might be best for all concerned."{{cite news|url=http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080802/NEWS02/808020342/1007 |accessdate=December 29, 2010 |title=Delaware GOP's Ting pays price for supporting Obama |first=Sean |last=O'Sullivan |work=The News Journal |location=Delaware |date=August 2, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822063617/http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20080802%2FNEWS02%2F808020342%2F1007 |archive-date=August 22, 2008 |url-status=dead}} Ting later referred to his resignation as an "expulsion".