Richard Pan

Richard Pan
Member of the California State Senate from the 6th district
In office December 1, 2014 – December 5, 2022
Preceded by	Darrell Steinberg
Succeeded by	Angelique Ashby (redistricted)
Member of the California State Assembly from the 9th district
In office December 3, 2012 – November 30, 2014
Preceded by	Roger Dickinson (redistricted)
Succeeded by	Jim Cooper
Member of the California State Assembly from the 5th district
In office December 6, 2010 – November 30, 2012
Preceded by	Roger Niello
Succeeded by	Frank Bigelow (redistricted)
Personal details
Born	Richard Juien-Dah Pan Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Children	2
Education	Johns Hopkins University (BS) University of Pittsburgh (MD) Harvard University (MPH)
Website	Campaign website
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	潘君達
Simplified Chinese	潘君达
Hanyu Pinyin	Pān Jūndá

Richard Juien-Dah Pan (born October 28, 1965) is an American Democratic politician and physician who served in the California State Senate from 2014 to 2022, representing the 6th Senate district, which encompassed parts of Sacramento and Yolo counties. He is also a practicing pediatrician and professor at the University of California, Davis.

Early life and education

Pan was born in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to immigrant parents from Taiwan. He earned a bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University, a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master of Public Health from Harvard University. He completed his pediatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital also serving as Chief Resident and a fellowship at Children's Hospital Boston in child advocacy and primary care research.

Dr. Pan was a professor at the University of California, Davis where he led the pediatric residency program and founded Communities and Physicians Together, a service learning curriculum that placed physicians-in-training with community settings to learn about social determinants of health.

Legislative career

Prior to being elected to the State Senate in 2014, he was a member of the California State Assembly representing the 5th Assembly District, and after the 2010 redistricting, the 9th Assembly District. Pan was Chair of the California Asian American & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus from 2020-2022.

Following a measles outbreak that began in California and infected 131 people, Pan and Senator Ben Allen introduced California Senate Bill 277 in 2015, which eliminated philosophical and religious beliefs exemptions to vaccine requirements for California school children. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. Pan authored laws to expand newborn screening for severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome (AB395 in 2011), adrenoleukodystrophy (AB1559 in 2014) and all conditions recommended by the federal DHHS Recommended Universal Screening Panel (SB1095 in 2016). Pan authored legislation to extend the California Children's Services Program managed care carve-out (AB301 in 2011) and to establish the Medi-Cal Children's Health Advisory Board to guide Medi-Cal policy affecting children (AB357 in 2014). In 2021 he authored a law (SB 742) that makes illegal to "harass, intimidate, injure or obstruct" people who are on their way to get a vaccination; the law was inspired by an incident in January when protesters targeted and briefly shut down a mass vaccination site in Los Angeles.

In 2022, together with Senator Scott Wiener, Pan introduced Senate Bill 866 which would have allowed minors aged 15 and older to give consent to receive FDA-approved vaccinations for themself. The bill did not become law.

Personal life

Pan and his wife, Wen Li-Wang, have two children.