Chris Cheng (born December 14, 1979 in

Mission Viejo, California Mission Viejo ( ; corruption of ''Misión Vieja'', Spanish for "Old Mission") is a commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities eve ...

) is an American

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such a ...

and

The History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

's ''

Top Shot ''Top Shot'' is an American reality television show that debuted on the History Channel on June 6, 2010. In the show, 16 contestants, split into two teams of eight, compete in various types of shooting challenges. One by one, the contestants are ...

'' Season 4 Champion. In 2012, along with the title of "Top Shot", Cheng won a $100,000 cash prize and a professional marksman contract with the show's sponsor,

Bass Pro Shops BPS Direct, L.L.C, doing business as Bass Pro Shops, is an American privately held retailer which specializes in hunting, fishing, camping, and other related outdoor recreation merchandise. With headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, Bass Pr ...

Background

Cheng was born to Maggie and Benjamin Cheng. His mother is

Japanese Cuban Japanese Cubans are people of Japanese ancestry resident in Cuba. History The Cuban government first sought to recruit Japanese workers into sugar plantations in the 1880s, but the Japanese government refused to give approval on the grounds of th ...

and his father is

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

. He has a younger sister, Allison. He attended the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

from 1998 to 2003 where he majored in Political Science, with a focus on American government and political media. He holds a master's degree in International Policy Studies from the

Monterey Institute of International Studies The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), formerly known as the Monterey Institute of International Studies, is an American graduate school of Middlebury College, a private college in Middlebury, Vermont. Established ...

where he specialized in conflict resolution and international negotiations and was President of his class. He is fluent in Spanish. Cheng also holds an Advanced Project Management certification from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Cheng is a member of

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

fraternity and was a re-founding father of his chapter at UCLA where he served in numerous leadership roles. He was the Grand Sweepstakes winner in UCLA's 2001 Spring Sing talent show competition. In 2003, Cheng served as co-chair of the 26-hour UCLA Dance Marathon where 2,000 students, faculty, and staff raised $54,000 for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, which was noted as "one of the largest college fundraising events on the West Coast." Upon graduating in 2003, he was conferred with the "UCLA Chancellor's Service Award."

Career

Cheng worked for

Google Inc. Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. I ...

from 2007 to 2012 in many capacities, primarily in technical support for

Google Apps Google Workspace (formerly known as Google Apps and later G Suite) is a collection of cloud computing, productivity and collaboration tools, software and products developed and marketed by Google. It consists of Gmail, Contacts, Calendar, Meet ...

, as well as a product lead in

Google.org Google.org, founded in October 2005, is the charitable arm of Google, a multinational technology company. The organization has committed roughly US$100 million in investments and grants to nonprofits annually. The organization is noted for se ...

's Google for Nonprofits Program. Chris served on the GoogleEDU leadership faculty where he trained teams and individuals on interpersonal communication and the fundamentals of leadership. He left Google in June 2012 to pursue his professional marksman contract full-time. Cheng is an NRA News Commentator where he provides his opinions and commentary on a variety of issues. He also tours Bass Pro Shops across the country interacting with customers; shooting in Multi-Gun, USPSA,

IDPA The International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA), founded in 1996, is an organization based in Bogata, Texas, that has created a shooting sport based on defensive pistol techniques, using equipment including full-charge service ammunition to ...

, and IPSC competitions, and working with the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

and

National Shooting Sports Foundation The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is an American national trade association for the firearms industry that is based in Newtown, Connecticut. Formed in 1961, the organization has more than 8,000 members: firearms manufacturers, distri ...

on promoting the shooting sport. Cheng is a Lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and is an NRA Certified Pistol, Rifle, and Shotgun Instructor. Cheng's book
Shoot to Win
reveals how he trained to win ''Top Shot'', as well as how he empowers himself to succeed in life. Cheng is a Staff Writer fo
The Firearm Blog
where he writes about firearms and gear in his post-''Top Shot'' experiences. Cheng was featured in the Second Amendment documentary ''Assaulted: Civil Rights Under Fire'' (2013) alongside

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock an ...

and Ice-T. He was on 13 episodes of ''Top Shot'' Season 4, and was a special guest on the premiere and season finale of ''Top Shot'' Season 5: All-Stars. Cheng is an inspirational public speaker, represented by The Harry Walker Agency. Cheng's website and blog is a
TopShotChris.com
His future career plans include running for public office. Cheng produces a web series called ''Top Shot Chris Cheng'' that airs on CarbonTV. Cheng joined the Board of Directors of the LGBTQ gun rights organization,

Pink Pistols The Pink Pistols are an LGBTQ gun rights organization in the United States and Canada. Their motto is "Pick on someone your own caliber". History Inspired by a Salon.com article written by Jonathan Rauch, Krikket (aka Doug Krick), a libertaria ...

in January 2020. In a statement released to the public Cheng said of the decision to join Pink Pistols, "I am excited to bring my technology and business background to Operation Blazing Sword. The next chapter of queer rights has begun with more of our community realizing that the Second Amendment is a way for marginalized communities to protect ourselves from harm..." "Operation Blazing Sword" (another LGBTQ gun rights organization), merged with Pink Pistols in 2018.

Other interests

Cheng is on the board of directors for the

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when he ...

BRAVO! Club. He is also a volunteer baritone singer for the

San Francisco Symphony Chorus The San Francisco Symphony Chorus is the resident chorus of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS). Background Established in 1972 at the request of then-music director Seiji Ozawa, the chorus first performed in the 1973-74 Symphony season. The SFS Chor ...

. He played double bass from ages 13–22 in both orchestras and jazz bands. He is a co-founder o
Home for a Home
a nonprofit organization which collects donations from real estate brokers to build homes for those in need. In December 2013 Cheng publicly

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as gay on his official blog. He did so in the hopes of breaking down stereotypes both about gay people and gun enthusiasts.

References

External links

* * *
Chris Cheng
on

Chris Cheng on CarbonTV

Home for a Home
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Chris American male sport shooters Sportspeople from Mission Viejo, California 1979 births Living people IPSC shooters University of California, Los Angeles alumni Middlebury College alumni Stanford University alumni American people of Chinese descent American people of Japanese descent American people of Cuban descent LGBT people from California American LGBT sportspeople Google employees American motivational speakers LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people American LGBT people of Asian descent Gay sportsmen LGBT sport shooters 21st-century LGBT people