Dr. Andres D. Onate, who received his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona and went on to become a foreign service officer, professor and department head, died in November.
Onate published his first book right after completing his dissertation and subsequently he became an assistant professor and later department head of Oriental Studies from 1974-1978, said Chia-lin Pao Tao, Professor Emerita in the Department of East Asian Studies, who first met Onate in 1976 when she arrived at the U of A from Taiwan.
“Not only was he a diligent scholar, but also an inspiring teacher. Even today we could find students now in their 60s reflecting how great a teacher he was in those years,” she said.
Onate secured federal funding from the then U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to support programs in the Department of Oriental Studies, which later became the Department of East Asian Studies. He and Tim Light were instrumental in securing the external and institutional support in establishing the East Asian Center at the U of A in 1970s.
Onate later left the university after accepting an offer from the U.S. Department of State. When Onate was assigned to be the Culture Attache in the American Embassy in Beijing, he continued to do his best to assist U of A faculty and students.
In 1979, he wrote the book Chairman Mao and the Chinese Communist Party, published by Nelson-Hall, which analyzed the evolution of the Chinese Communist Party under Mao Zedong’s leadership.
“When a faculty friend encountered difficulty in China, it was Andy who provided him with the best advice. When an engineering student, now a great scholar in the energy field, failed to get a visa to study here it was Andy who helped him secure the F-1 Visa,” she said.
At the State Department, Onate wore many different hats, even serving in the White House with the National Security Council during President Ronald Reagan’s term, said his wife, Annie Reed.
After retiring from the State Department in 2015, Onate led the U of A Study in China Program headquartered in Nanjing and served as an adjunct professor in the Department of East Asian Studies.
“He was dedicated in sharing his knowledge with students who were interested in Chinese political theories, Chinese history, U.S.-China international relations or classical Confucianism. He was so proud of being a U of A professor,” she said.