Asia Society Announces Appointment of Gary Rieschel to Chair Asia Society Northern California Advisory Board

San Francisco, July 29, 2021—Asia Society today announced that Gary Rieschel, Founding Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, will serve as Chair of Asia Society Northern California (ASNC). A member of the Asia Society Northern California Advisory Board since 2002, he succeeds Ken Wilcox, who will serve as Honorary Chair, together with Honorary Chair Jack Wadsworth and Chair Emeritus Chong-Moon Lee.

Wilcox served as Co-Chair and Chair of Asia Society Northern California from 2016. Under his leadership, the Center doubled its programmatic and membership footprint by expanding into Silicon Valley.

“Gary Rieschel is one of the world’s leading minds and hands when it comes to U.S.-China technological relations and we are delighted to have him as the new Chair of our Center in Northern California,” said Asia Society President and CEO Kevin Rudd. “Gary takes over as Chair from Ken Wilcox who has done so much for our Center in Northern California and the Asia Society globally, including growing our presence into Silicon Valley. Ken epitomizes the very essence of what every non-profit organization seeks in a chair–principled leadership, an ambitious vision, wisdom beyond bounds, and a spirit of generosity.”

“I am thrilled to be Chairing the Northern California Center as we dive deeper into technology and the central role it will increasingly play in geopolitical matters” said Rieschel. “This is a critical point in the relationship between the U.S. and Asia, particularly the bilateral relationship with China, and we have much to offer from our viewpoint on the West Coast.”

Rieschel launched Qiming Venture Partners in Shanghai in 2006. Qiming invests in technology and healthcare with offices in China and the U.S. Qiming has over $7B USD in assets under management. Many of Qiming’s portfolio companies are today’s most influential firms in their respective sectors. Prior to founding Qiming, Rieschel was a senior executive at Intel, Sequent Computer, Cisco Systems, and Softbank Corporation.

Rieschel advises entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. He is an angel investor and is on all Qiming investment committees. He is active in U.S.-China relations and many issues associated with environmental concerns. He sponsored the Rocky Mountain Institute’s entry to China (Re-Inventing Fire – China), and also supports the Council on Foreign Relations, The Nature Conservancy, the Atlantic Council, PERC (free market environmentalism), the Climate Leadership Council, the U.S. Olympic Foundation, and the Fudan University International Advisory Board. Rieschel has degrees from Reed College (BA Biology) and Harvard Business School (MBA), and he serves as a Trustee of Reed College.  He lived in Shanghai from 2005 through 2016 and resides in Seattle.

Established in 1998 and headed by Executive Director Margaret Conley, Asia Society Northern California is uniquely positioned on the edge of the Pacific and at the entrance to Silicon Valley. The Asia Society navigates shared futures for Asia and the world across policy, arts and culture, education, sustainability, business, and technology. The Asia Society is nonpartisan and nonprofit, with headquarters in New York, major centers with buildings in Hong Kong and Houston, and offices in Los Angeles, Manila, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Sydney, Washington, DC, Tokyo, and Zurich. Find out more at AsiaSociety.org/NorthernCalifornia.