BIOGRAPHY

Early Years

Julie Tam was born in Houston, TX, where she lived for the first 21 years of her life. She is Baptist and Chinese-American. Cantonese and English were her first two languages, with more to come later. Her father was a geophysicist, later an entrepreneur, and now retired; her mother was a petroleum engineer and is now in real estate. Julie's mother has always been the kind of “superwoman” Julie aspires to be. Julie's father put her in front of the camera when she was only an infant. By age two, she was singing and dancing to Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and Peter, Paul and Mary. At age three, Julie started pre-school at Banff Private School, which she attended through 6th grade. In elementary school, she began ballet, tap, gymnastics, and figure skating lessons, although she would later focus on ballet.

Julie's younger sister was born a few months before Julie turned four. Three years later, their brother was born. All three siblings' lives were documented at birthday parties, award ceremonies, performances, and other events their father caught on tape. At age eight, Julie started attending Chinese school on weekends to learn to speak, read, and write Mandarin. That year she also auditioned and was accepted into Houston Ballet Academy - the training school for the nationally-renowned ballet company. She took piano lessons for a few years, advanced to the intermediate level, and performed a few times, but that was not her passion. By age 10, Julie was writing and directing plays and musicals so she and her younger siblings could perform in front of the family. While Julie was still in elementary school, her father suggested she be a TV journalist, since she was so comfortable in front of the camera and loved to tell stories. Those motivations would later develop into a more significant reason for choosing this career path.

Middle & High School Years

In school, Julie was an honor roll student and consistently kept a spot among the top students in her class. Favorite subjects: math, English, and Spanish. Julie spent two Christmas holiday seasons performing with the Houston Ballet in The Nutcracker at the Wortham Theatre Center in downtown Houston and got her first paychecks. She started attending Second Baptist School in 7th grade. By high school, Julie was spending at least 10 hours a week during the school year and 27 hours a week during the summer at Houston Ballet Academy - training in classical ballet, modern dance, jazz, character dance, improvisation, pas de deux (pairs dancing), body conditioning, Pilates, Alexander technique, floor-barre, movement, musical theater, choreography, music appreciation, and stage makeup and hair. At the end of 11th grade, she finished the academy's pre-professional program.

The other art she loved was opera, a talent she discovered in herself in 5th grade. During high school, Julie trained in classical voice in Rice University's Shepherd School of Music Preparatory Program. A soprano with a 3-octave range, she competed locally and statewide in the Texas Association of Private & Parochial Schools (TAPPS). Julie's wins include a gold medal at the Houston female vocal solo competition and a bronze medal twice at the state level. By 1999, she held the state record in spelling competition, with three gold medals and one silver, and swept all four years as the Houston spelling champion. Julie also won the state silver medal for Spanish and vocal trio performance (singing out of her usual soprano voice part, as an alto). Represented by First Models & Talent Agency at the time, Julie modeled live for Ice Breakers Gum and in the Houston Chronicle's Yo! Houston section.

Julie was also nominated to leadership programs: At City Hall, she started a citywide program for charity, as part of Empowering Teen Leaders. She got certified and volunteered as an E.S.L. teacher for YMCA International, helping a Bosnian refugee get a job in Houston. She wrote and copy edited for her high school literary magazine, Captive Flames. She enjoyed writing poetry and journal entries, and started writing a novel. In her sophomore, junior, and senior years at Second Baptist School, Julie served as treasurer, secretary, and president, respectively, of the Spanish Club. Julie was also a delegate to the Houston Area Model United Nations (HAMUN). During her senior year, she completed an internship at the Houston Mayor's Anti-Gang Office. Julie got perfect and near-perfect scores on standardized tests, including the SAT, PSAT, and SAT II exams, and was a National Merit Commended Scholar. She was selected to the National Honor Society and was one of four students who spoke at the induction ceremony for the class after them. Julie was also selected for other national honor societies, including Who's Who Among American High School Students and U.S. Achievement Academy.

In May 1999, Julie graduated Summa Cum Laude, with a GPA well above 4.0 (Honor Roll every semester), and 4th in her class from Second Baptist School. She also received an honors diploma in Chinese from the Chinese Community Culture Center School, which she attended for 10 years on weekends. Before entering college, Julie's career goal was domestic politics or foreign diplomacy, intending to follow in the footsteps of her late maternal grandfather - who was a Taiwan senator and adviser to China's Nationalist leader Chiang Kai Shek. Foreign policy suited Julie well because she is fluent in four languages (English, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese) and has traveled around the globe. But she would later choose a different career path.

College Years & Career Start

Julie graduated from Rice University with a B.A. in Economics on May 10, 2003. She entered the elite institution with 20 credit hours (almost one year of college credit) from high scores on Advanced Placement exams in high school, making her an AP Scholar. She lived at Jones College (on-campus dorm) all four years. During her time at Rice, Julie worked in all types of media, but ultimately focused on TV. Near the beginning of college, Julie discovered her “pop” voice. Her dance training expanded to include country western, ballroom, Latin ballroom, swing, and hip hop. Julie continued taking classes at Houston Ballet Academy and danced with Rice Dance Theatre for a semester.

Freshman year, she joined Rice Broadcast TV (RBT) as a news reporter. The following year, she became news director/anchor and also shot and edited her own video. She also started as a reporter for the weekly, drive-time radio news show on KTRU 91.7 FM and became news director/anchor after one semester. Julie spent one semester as a news reporter and another semester as an Arts & Entertainment writer for the weekly student newspaper, The Rice Thresher. Julie also wrote for U.Magazine, distributed to colleges nationwide, and was published on its website, Colleges.com. She spent a few years writing for MakingItCount.com (owned by Monster.com) and was also published on its sister site, CollegeLink.com.

Julie owes her start in TV news to a news reporter at KRIV-TV FOX 26 (Houston), who also had graduated from Rice and whom she met freshman year: Ned Hibberd has been her mentor ever since. With a sense of direction and possibilities, Julie aimed full-force toward a career in broadcast news. Julie spent a summer as a news and consumer investigations intern at KTRK-TV Houston (ABC 13) and two semesters as a news intern at KHWB-TV WB 39 (Houston). She auditioned for and was chosen as a producer/host/reporter for two seasons of Video Workshop, a community affairs news magazine series on KUHT-TV PBS 8 (Houston), and was invited back to guest-host a show for a third season. On the show, she interviewed the likes of Houston Mayor Pro-Tem/City Council Member Gordon Quan and "Bond Girl" Lois Chiles (Moonraker, 1979). (Interestingly, Julie also played "Bond Girl" in a student film at Rice.) Julie was voted the #1 on-air personality by the other 11 producer-hosts on the PBS-Houston show.

Julie joined the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) in 2001. She was chosen as the female student TV anchor for AAJA News Now, which aired at the 2002 national convention. Her airfare, hotel accomodations, convention costs, and meals were all paid for. Although Rice doesn't have a communications department, Julie took the initiative to take eight classes at the University of Houston School of Communications, as well as the two journalism classes offered at Rice - enough to amount to a major. Julie was the winner of the 2002 Texas Association of Broadcasters' Vann Kennedy Scholarship and the 1999 General Motors-Chevrolet national essay contest/scholarship. Julie was heavily involved in a few major student films shown to crowds on campus - producing, directing, acting, shooting, and editing - including Drinking With Phil: Run Phil Run (2001), On the University's Secret Service (2002), and The Gentleman (2003). In spring 2001, a play she wrote, Indecisiveness? (that a fellow student directed), and a play she directed (that a fellow student wrote) both debuted at Martel Take Ten, a showcase of 10-minute plays at Rice University. Julie spent three years on the Houston Area Model United Nations Secretariat (organizing body), serving as parliamentarian for one year and committee chair for two years. She served as a Rice Ambassador, representing the university at various events and hosting foreign and domestic dignitaries, including Alberto Gonzales (former General Counsel to President George W. Bush) and Alan Greenspan (former Federal Reserve chairman). During her senior year (with as heavy as an 18-hour course load one semester) and after graduation, Julie worked for a total of one year as a news/special projects producer for News 24 Houston, a 24-hour news channel on Time Warner Cable TV. She also appeared on air as a reporter for a story.

Julie's academic profile and college application essay were published in The Princeton Review's book College Essays That Made a Difference (2003), including more than 80 students who were accepted to elite U.S. universities and sold in book stores nationwide. Julie was nominated and selected for Who's Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges, Golden Key International Honour Society, and National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She also made the President's Honor Roll at Rice. Julie was a member of the Rice Chinese Student Association and Rice Taiwanese Association (even though she's not Taiwanese), as well as the campus Baptist Student Ministry. Julie worked as a private tutor all four years of college, as well as a few other part-time jobs, including Business Development Representative for GroceryWorks.com. As a freshman, Julie returned to her high school, Second Baptist, and gave a lecture entirely in Spanish. After graduating from Rice, Julie spoke at the middle and high school commencement ceremonies at Banff Private School, where she attended pre-K through 6th grade.

On-Air Career Beginnings

For two years, Julie was an award-winning TV news reporter at KLTV-TV ABC 7 in Tyler, TX – filing daily reports live in the field, on set, and pre-taped – broadcasting to all of East Texas, including Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, and surrounding cities and counties. She produced and anchored episodes of Inside East Texas, a 30-min. community affairs series that aired on Sunday mornings, with a repeat overnight – also airing on KTRE-TV ABC 9 in Lufkin-Nacogdoches. Julie's reports have also aired on CNN, CourtTV, XM Satellite Radio, and news/talk radio and TV stations around the country. Julie made a number of public appearances for KLTV – speaking, emceeing, and singing. She got the only "Honorable Mention" in the "Best Reporter" category in Division 2 (medium-sized TV markets) at the 2004 Texas Associated Press Broadcasters (TAPB) Awards, placing her among the top four TV reporters in medium-sized markets in Texas, including such cities as Austin, Waco, El Paso, and Amarillo. Her live, eyewitness reports, after surviving the Smith County Courthouse shooting in February 2005, helped earn her station two Emmy Awards. Julie also volunteered for the Humane Society of Smith County, exercising animals and helping with community events, and Kid Reach of PATH (People Attempting To Help), mentoring a "little sister." She was a member of Young Women Professionals in Tyler. Julie was also the 2005 Scholarship Committee Chair for the Texas chapter of Asian American Journalists Association.

Current Situation

Julie is weekend 10pm news anchor/reporter at WDRB-TV FOX 41 in Louisville, KY and makes regular public appearances for her station - reading to children, delivering lectures, and greeting fans at events. She's a member of Young Professionals Association of Louisville (YPAL), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) Kentuckiana chapter, and Rice University Chinese Alumni Association (RUCAA). Julie is the webmaster for the Texas chapter of AAJA and volunteers as a mentor in the national Broadcast Mentor Program. She also volunteers as the Kentucky captain of Rice Alumni Volunteer for Admission (RAVA) - heading her state in representing her university at college fairs and interviewing Rice applicants; Owlmanac Class of 2003 Recorder - compiling news about 2003 graduates; Rice Alumni-Student mentor - mentoring current Rice students in career and other interests; Career Services Alumni Contact Service member - available to Rice students looking for mentors, professional contacts, or other networking opportunities. Julie teaches Sunday school and performs vocal solos at her church. Despite her busy schedule, she tries to keep up with physical fitness and is working on recording some classical vocal tracks. Julie loves animals, so she supports several animal rescue/advocacy organizations.