Sue Fawn Chung received her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, master's from Harvard University, and doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. Before arriving at UNLV, she taught at Harvard University, San Francisco State University, and the University of California, Berkeley. Chung began teaching in the history and art departments at UNLV in 1975 and was director of international programs (1985-1987) and chair of the history department (1994-1996). She has been active in various community organizations, including Nevada Humanities, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Clark County Asian American Commission, Nevada State Board of Museums and History, and the Comstock Cemetery Foundation. She is the co-founder of Preserve Nevada and serves on its Board. She has published numerous articles on Chinese and Chinese American history, co-edited a book with Priscilla Wegars, Chinese American Death Rituals: Respecting the Ancestors (Walnut Creek: Alta Mira Press, 2005) and completed a book manuscript on Chinese lumbermen in the American West. She received the 2013 Bancroft Honor Award for her book, "In Pursuit of Gold: Chinese American Miners and Merchants in the American West." She serves as a consultant for the U.S. Forest Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the National Park Service.

Chung has received several awards, both locally and nationally, produced or consulted on several educational television programs, and worked on numerous museum exhibitions related to Asian Americans. She has worked for over twenty years in the movie industry in Hollywood, California before coming to Las Vegas. She is married to Alan M. Solomon, J.D., Pharm D., and they have two sons, Walter and Alexander.