Edmund C. Moy deserved to ride off in the sunset a couple years ago after capping his career–in both the private and public sectors–as special assistant to the President for presidential personnel at the White House.

After all, with a record number of highly-qualified Asian Americans in the administration of President George W. Bush, he could happily declare, “My work here is done.” Records show President Bush has appointed 289 Asian Pacific Americans to the highest levels of the government, including 94 presidential appointees requiring Senate confirmation.

Instead, in September 2006, Mr. Moy became the 38th Director of the United States Mint. For him, it was all about balancing his roles as a public servant and as a family man.

In August 2005, he and his wife Karen adopted Nora, who is now nearly three years old. “It was an honor to serve the President and the country, and I enjoyed my work there,” he said in a telephone interview. “But we kept long hours and worked many weekends.” He discussed his options with the President. “Now I spend all my weekends and most nights with my daughter,” he added.

Aside from keeping regular hours, he now goes on a few business trips. Recently, he traveled to Europe to observe innovative mints. He visited the Royal Mint in England, the French Mint in Paris, and the World’s Money Fair in Berlin. As director, Mr. Moy leads the world’s largest manufacturer of high-quality coins, medals and numismatic products.

Speaking of innovations, the Mint recently launched a 2008 24-Karat American Buffalo Coin under the United States Mint Celebration Series. The gold coin was introduced on February 5 for Asian Americans and 24-karat gold coin collectors in time for the Lunar New Year. It is available directly from the United States Mint. (For more information, please refer to related news elsewhere in this issue).

“We are expanding the market to include the Asian Pacific Americans,” he said. “The gold coin is a ready source of income, and caring for one’s family and trying to make sure they are well-provided for is part of the Asian culture–it’s very strong with Chinese Americans and Vietnamese Americans, among others.” He recalled that when his mom got married, “her father-in-law gave her a bunch of gold coins–it turned out to be a valuable investment.”

The gold coin is doing a brisk business and is “very, very successful.” Considering that nowadays gold is a sound investment, “If you had bought this gold coin when it was launched, you would have made a lot of money by now!” Mr. Moy said, laughing.

Public service

“At Asian Pacific American events, I still continue to encourage qualified APAs to consider public service,” Mr. Moy stressed. He urged Asian American parents to support their children’s career choices.

He added that culturally, Asian parents want their children to become doctors or lawyers. His parents wanted him to be a doctor, and “they were shocked” when they learned their son had other plans. Mr. Moy graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1979 with a triple major in economics, international relations and political science.

His dad, who fled China during the Communist revolution, and who worked hard and long hours in running a restaurant with his wife, would never have dreamed their son would reach the pinnacle of his career, and affect the lives of the Asian American community, as well as society at large.

“I often refer to Ed as the godfather of Asian Pacific American presidential appointees,” said Ben Wu, who was both a deputy undersecretary and an assistant secretary at the Department of Commerce in the administration of President George W. Bush.

He added: “President Bush would often turn to Ed to make sure the White House did not overlook any highly-qualified APA candidates in the personnel process. The President has made history with more APA appointees than any other president, especially at the most senior levels of government, including two Cabinet members. The record number of APA presidential appointees in this administration is Ed’s legacy, and he has helped to set a high bar for the next president if he or she intends to surpass it.”

At his former White House post, Mr. Moy recommended candidates to the President for political appointments for the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, Agriculture, Interior, Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

He also served on a panel in forming the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He had responsibility for staffing high-ranking positions at the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Likewise, he was responsible for political appointments for many independent agencies. These include the National Endowment for the Arts, National Mediation Board, Social Security Administration, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, National Labor Relations Board, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Farm Credit Administration.

Before entering public service, Mr. Moy spent eight years with venture capital firms and entrepreneurs, including the Wall Street private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. He also served on the boards of several companies and nonprofit organizations.

From 1989 to 1993, he served President George H.W. Bush at the federal Health Care Financing Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As the director of the Office of Managed Care, he was responsible for regulating health maintenance organizations, formulating the nation’s managed care policy, and overseeing $7 billion in annual expenditures to Medicare and Medicaid managed health care programs. He was a sales and marketing executive for Blue Cross Blue Shield United of Wisconsin from 1979 to 1989.

Mr. Moy currently serves on the Board of Directors of Christianity Today International and the Board of Directors for the Christianity Today Foundation and the Board of Directors of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. He likes to read Christian books by Chuck Holton.

Looking ahead, when his daughter Nora has grown up, he plans to devote more time to spending time in the kitchen. “I like to cook,” he said. He wants to learn how to paint, spend time listening to opera and to symphonies, and continue to read a lot of biographies and other books. He looks forward to “going through every work of P.G. Wodehouse,” the famous British author who created the lovable Jeeves and Wooster characters.