The data from many respected researchers shows that Asian Americans are severely underrepresented in the CEO ranks of both private and public companies, particularly if you exclude Asian American CEOs who founded their company. Although this is not necessary true for Indian Americans, it is clearly true for the other East and South Asian American ethnicities. Many of our previous events had highlighted this problem, shared the research data from professors of prominent universities, and interviewed senior executives in a number of industries.

This Asian American Career Ceilings Initiative Event featured a fireside chat with Dr. John Lee, the President and Chief Executive Officer of MKS Instruments, Inc.

Dr. Lee provided his observations and advice on how an Asian American can rise through the ranks of a public company to become CEO. Although some of obstacles and required skills are independent of ethnicity, there are clearly some that are particularly true for or applicable to rising Asian Americans. Dr. Lee shared his own personal journey through the corporate ranks and his view of how the parameters of success have changed over time and will continue to change in the future.

Peter Young, Chair of the Initiative and a Committee of 100 Member, was the moderator. After the conclusion of the fireside chat, there was a a Q&A session.

John T.C. Lee, PhD
President and Chief Executive Officer
MKS Instruments, Inc.

Dr. John T.C. Lee has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of MKS Instruments, Inc. since January 2020. MKS Instruments is a public company with $3.6 billion in revenues that provides products and technologies used to measure, control, power, and monitor critical process parameters of advanced manufacturing processes.

Dr. Lee joined MKS in 2007 and has held a number of senior leadership positions, including President and Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and leadership roles managing various business units, culminating in Senior Vice President of Business Units.

Prior to joining MKS, Dr. Lee held senior management roles at Applied Materials, Inc. from 2002 to 2007, including Managing Director of Factory Technology and Projects within the Solar Business Group and General Manager of the Cleans Product Group and the Maydan Technology Center. Prior to Applied Materials, Dr. Lee served from 1997 until 2002 as Research Director of the Silicon Fabrication Research Department at Lucent Technologies, Inc. From 1991 until 1997, he was a Member of the Technical Staff in the Plasma Processing Research Group within Bell Labs.

He has served on the MKS Board of Directors since 2020 and on the board of directors of Cognex Corporation since 2022. He has also served as Chair of the Massachusetts High Technology Council (MHTC) since 2023 and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of MHTC since 2021.

Dr. Lee holds a B.S. from Princeton University and both an M.S.CEP and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, all in Chemical Engineering.

Peter Young
CEO and President
Young & Partners  

Peter Young is CEO and President of Young & Partners, a boutique corporate strategy and investment banking firm focused on the life science and chemical industries. He manages the firm and is actively involved in client projects, transactions, and financings. Under his leadership, Young & Partners has established and maintained its position as a highly regarded firm serving the corporate strategy, M&A, restructuring, and financing needs of clients worldwide. He was previously head of industry groups at Salomon Brothers, Schroders, and Lehman Brothers, a senior private equity executive with J.H. Whitney & Co., and a senior member of Bain & Co., a corporate strategy firm.   

Young received a BA in Economics from Yale, an MS in Accounting from NYU, and an MBA from Harvard Business School where he graduated as a Baker Scholar. He is a CPA and a Chartered Global Management Accountant. He serves on several boards of directors, both corporate and non-profit; and is a board member of Société de Chimie Industrielle, a leading life science and chemical industry non-profit organization; and on the Editorial Advisory Board of Pharmaceutical Executive. He is also the New York Regional Chair for Committee of 100.