His father’s unprecedented dedication to education throughout his life, during wars and across continents, compelled Robert Wang to give something back to the Rossier School of Education. Wang, an accomplished retired business executive, established a scholarship fund for Rossier students in memory and honor of his late father, lifetime educator and alumnus Dr. Yu- Kai Wang (MS ’35).
Since 1996, the Dr. Yu-Kai Wang and Mrs. Alice Ah-Chu Wang Endowed Scholarship Fund has helped many Rossier students studying to be high school and community college counselors. “The student recipients are top-notch,” Robert Wang said. “My father graduated from the School of Education, and education is the most important thing for our younger generation. With no education, there’s no foundation.”
Dr. Yu-Kai Wang was a pioneer for education in China. He opened an elementary and high school in Shanghai before leaving to study at USC. After earning his MS in Education in 1935, Wang returned to his homeland and soon found it in the throes of World War II’s Second-Sino Japanese War. Wang fled to Chuang Kang with his wife and children, where he was able to pursue his career in education, spending the next eight years in faculty and leadership posts at Great China University, National Teachers College, and United Christian University.
After the war, the family returned to Shanghai. Wang reassumed management of the schools he had founded, and opened and ran a new business school, Kwang Hsia College, with branches in both Shanghai and Hong Kong. In 1959, he earned his PhD and authored a number of books on education systems in both the East and West.
In 1948, Robert Wang followed his father’s path and came to study in America. He entered St. Thomas College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and earned his MBA at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1950. He spent a number of years as a senior executive at 3M Company, where he developed business strategy for 3M subsidiaries in Asia and became the first managing director of 3M Taiwan.
The elder Wangs immigrated to the U.S. following the Hong Kong riots of 1967. Long after his “official” retirement, Dr. Wang was still teaching at Glendale City College and Los Angeles Metro College.
With his wife, Victoria, Robert Wang now resides in the Orange County neighborhood of Villa Park, where a framed photograph of his parents is prominently displayed on the fireplace mantle in his home. He said his gift to Rossier is a reflection of his father’s legacy, and the elder Wang’s commitment to education and philanthropy.
"My father was an educator all his life. He always taught us that human beings can only take in two bowls of rice a day. If you are lucky enough to have any surplus, then you should spend it on other people. I followed in my father’s footsteps. He is my inspiration."
Robert Wang
