Council At-Large and Vice Mayor, Dan Wu

At-Large Council Member and Vice Mayor Dan Wu was first elected to office in November of 2022. Born in China, Dan came to the United States as a child, first to Fargo, North Dakota, then settled with his family in Lexington. A graduate of Henry Clay High School and the University of Kentucky, Dan has been a jack of all trades, having worked in journalism, retail, hospitality and other fields. He was the owner and operator of Atomic Ramen, a restaurant with multiple locations in Lexington.

A former board member of LexArts, The Human Rights Commission, Local First Lexington, KY Equal Justice Center, and CivicLex, Dan has been very active in the community, working on issues ranging from food insecurity to immigrant and refugee rights. He created both the “I Am A Kentuckian” and “Immigrants and Refugees Belong Here” campaigns. Dan is a co-founder of Get HAAPI, a grassroots group that creates arts and cultural events to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Dan is married to Lauren, a high school teacher of kids with moderate to severe disabilities and an LGBTQ+ advocate, father to Lin and Lilly, and a trio of felines Cake, Talulah Mae and Tammy Faye. In his spare time, Dan loves pickleball, jigsaw puzzles, binging bad sci-fi shows, and cooking for his family. His kryptonite is unusually flavored potato chips.