Long-time Taiwan resident Doris Brougham, founder of the English-learning magazine company Studio Classroom, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Asian Publishing Awards presentation ceremony held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam July 9.
Brougham became the first person in Taiwan to win the APA’s special award, with judges praising her career achievements as an educator, missionary, publisher, editor, philanthropist and even as a musician.
The APA is the first set of awards aimed solely at recognizing and encouraging outstanding performance and achievements in the publishing industry on the Asian continent. It is composed of three main awards in a multimedia setting: magazine management, book publishing and corporate communications.
Upon accepting the award, Brougham noted that Asia’s influence has been steadily growing in the world. “The publishing world has always had a major influence on people,” she stressed, pointing out that “through reading, people can change their lives.”
“If we can use the media to teach, inform and guide people, the world will be a better place for us all,” she added.
Born in Seattle, Washington in 1926, Brougham moved to Taiwan at the age of 25 to work as a missionary. After arriving on the island, she discovered that the Taiwan people had outstanding talent but were not sufficiently fluent in English to have their voices heard on the world stage. Finding this situation regrettable, Brougham established Studio Classroom in 1962 to help the local citizens improve their English language skills.
Nearly half a century later, the company is still going strong, with its various learning materials across various forms of media enjoying widespread popularity.
The octogenarian said that to this day, she is still curious about the world and has never stopped learning. She reads domestic and foreign magazines every day to gain new knowledge. In addition, in order to expand Studio Classroom’s learning services on the Internet and to other new avenues, such as the iPhone and Facebook, Brougham has been working to learn more about related technologies.
“If I don’t go and study myself, how can I ask my colleagues to do so?” she said.
As for her plans after receiving the special APA honor, Brougham said that she would continue with her current work to try and make the world an even better place to live.
“I can go back to Seattle anytime to visit friends and family, but I’ll still live in Taiwan because that is where I have things to do and where I can make a contribution,” she explained.
Brougham truly cherishes her adopted homeland, saying she has for a long time considered herself to be a Taiwanese. (SB)
(This article originally appeared in the China Times July 11.)