From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Ward is one of 16 people to be appointed to President Barack Obama's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. He will be sworn in at a ceremony tonight at the U.S. Capitol. The commission works to improve the quality of life and opportunities for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by providing advice to the president, as well as to education secretary Arne Duncan and commerce secretary Gary Locke.
"Imagine the president picking me to be a face of Asian Americans all over the world. Me? Me?" Ward said, grinning the grin that you see every time the Steelers play. "I thought it was a huge honor when they told me I was going to be one of the candidates. But I never thought I'd actually be picked."
Ward is a future Hall of Famer. He owns virtually every Steelers pass receiving record and, in his 13th NFL season, still is going strong. He has been a part of two Super Bowl-winning teams and was MVP of Super Bowl XL [...]
But the best thing about Ward is how he's using his celebrity as a professional athlete to help Asian Americans, here and in his native Korea. What good is fame and fortune if you can't use it to benefit others? After Super Bowl XL, Ward started the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation, which assists mixed-race children who face discrimination. He's making sure that a problem many want to keep quiet gets plenty of attention.
