As a UCLA student, Stephen O. Lesser, BA ’61, majored in international relations with an emphasis on European studies. While an undergraduate, he was unaware of the Asian holdings in the only campus library, then housed within the Powell Building. However, after working for the American consulate in Tokyo, Sapporo, and Fukuoka, Japan, Lesser became interested in Asian culture. When he returned to Los Angeles, he discovered the substantial East Asian collections that had been relocated to the Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library at UCLA. With an increasing focus on Chinese, Japanese, and Korean societies, Lesser has now traveled to many Asian countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Along the way, he has studied both the Chinese and Japanese languages. Mr. Lesser hoped that his contribution to establish the Stephen O. Lesser Endowment in the East Asian Library will enhance the admirable work that library staff members continue to perform in developing the Asian collections.
史迪文 (1961屆本科) 曾在加州大學洛杉磯分校就讀，主修國際關系尤其是歐洲研究。但是他在校時並沒有留意校內唯一家圖書館鮑威爾中的亞洲館藏。然而畢業后在日本東京、札幌、福岡美國領事館的工作經驗燃起了他對亞洲文化的興趣。待他回國后，他發現主要的東亞館藏已被遷至魯德福東亞圖書館。
隨著對中國、日本、韓國社會研究的深入，史迪文的足跡遍布中國、日本、韓國、越南、老撾和柬埔寨等亞洲國家，並在旅途中學習中文和日語。
史迪文希望通過以在東亞圖書館建立基金的方式，使東亞館館藏得以持續發展，並鼓勵圖書館的工作人員繼續這項有意義的工作。
Translated into Chinese by Yinglei Yang 楊英蕾
