Scott Corbett: Civic Education Advocate

P. Scott Corbett draws inspiration from three generations of his family’s missionary work in China—a legacy that sparked his lifelong fascination with East Asia. He came of age during the turbulence and transformation of the 1960s, ultimately earning a Ph.D. in 1983 after studying Chinese history at Kent State University and American diplomatic history at the University of Kansas. In 1985, he traveled to Beijing to explore his family’s roots and served as a Foreign Expert at several institutions. There he met and married his wife, Cui Yi. After time back in the United States and a subsequent move to Singapore, he settled into a long academic career. From 1996 until his retirement in 2020, he taught in the Ventura County Community College system and at California State University Channel Islands. Retirement became a turning point. Setting aside hesitation and embracing long-deferred ambitions, Corbett launched his career as a novelist. His published works include A Thousand Cranes, Uniformly Undeserved, Ashes and Memories, Harvest of Hunger, Fortune’s Retrieval, Pursuing Shadows, Fangs of Frustration, and the sequel to Uniformly Undeserved, Deliverance of the Damned.