Press > From Internment Camp to Corporate Tower
Former Japanese American internee achieves the real American dreamSEATTLE – February 19th marks the 64th anniversary of the internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans. In a post-September 11th world, the anniversary provides an opportunity to examine discrimination in America, whether injustices like this one could still occur and what has happened to the American dream.
A former Japanese American internee who became a scientist, physicist and successful business executive, Carl Nomura's inspirational life story is the epitome of the American Dream. Born in a box car to immigrant parents, his father was an abusive man who moved the family around constantly and separated his six children by sending several of Nomura's older brothers and sisters to stay with relatives. His mother supported the kids as best she could after his father died, but the Depression hit and the family, like the rest of the country, struggled to survive.
After graduating high school, Nomura and his family found themselves the target of the relocation efforts of the American government during World War II. Along with 110,000 Japanese Americans, Nomura and his family spent two years in Manzanar, an isolated dust-covered internment camp located in California.
Determined to learn from his experiences and motivated to change his situation, Nomura went back to school when World War II ended. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics in 1948, a master's of science degree in 1949 and a doctorate degree in physics in 1953. He then began a career that would span 33 years with Honeywell, a multi-billion dollar manufacturing company. Starting as a research physicist, he climbed the corporate ladder holding positions like manager of operations, Vice President of the Solid State Electronic Division, Sr. V.P. of the Semiconductor Group, and President of Synertec, Inc. When Carl retired, the Honeywell CEO commended him for his contributions to the company saying, "Carl has made a greater contribution to our success than any other executive in the company."
The story of Nomura's life is recounted in his memoir, Sleeping on Potatoes: A Lumpy Adventure from Manzanar to the Corporate Tower. With honesty and humor, Nomura provides an inspirational biography that explores his life experiences and serves as a guide post for others in search of their own dreams.
The director of the Washington Center for the Book wrote, "His story brings greater understanding and deep appreciation of the diversity of our American culture by his unflinching exposure of his own family history. Nomura recounts with accuracy the emotional pain, isolation and dislocation from traditional Japanese culture in the struggle for the promise of a better life in America." She continues, "He voices his life experience with insight and humor, which is the great expression of the commonality of the human experience seen through the filter of a kind mathematician."
Nomura has won the highest award given by the University of Minnesota, the Distinguished Graduate/ Outstanding Achievement Award, which is given to graduates who have achieved something of merit. Nomura currently resides in Port Townsend, Wash., near Seattle. In his retirement, he runs his own farm, as well as a local Japanese restaurant and travels extensively.