IRVINE : Adding Her Own Page to the Story

Kris Rideout’s fascination with Asia dates to her childhood, when her father would return home from business trips filled with stories about the region.

So it didn’t surprise friends and family members when Rideout, who grew up in Irvine and graduated from University High School in 1991, majored in Asian Pacific Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Her continuing interest in the Far East landed Rideout a 1994 Fulbright scholarship. She will travel to Singapore this summer to study Asian woman entrepreneurs.

Rideout, 21, said the scholarship will allow her to research the impact that female entrepreneurs have on the Pacific Rim economy and culture.

“The role that women are playing in Asia and around the world is very important,” she said. “It’s the kind of thing that is hard to learn from books without going there and meeting the people.”

Rideout will leave Orange County for Singapore in July. She will begin an MBA program at a university there and interview dozens of businesswomen in the region.

At the end of her year abroad, Rideout will write a report that looks at what Asian businesswomen are doing and compares their status to women in the United States.

Rideout was born in New York but has lived in Irvine since she was 12. Her father worked at IBM and traveled frequently to Asia. “His stories fascinated me,” she said. “I was very interested in the Pacific Rim, even as a child.”

Rideout said she hopes to learn Japanese when she returns to the United States. She also plans to earn a business administration degree from a U.S. university. Eventually, she’d like to work in international business.

The Fulbright Scholarship program was named after the late U.S. Sen. William Fulbright of Arkansas. It is administered by the federal government. Considered one of academia’s most prestigious fellowships, the program is designed to foster understanding between the United States and foreign countries.