Betty Wei (born 1930) (

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

: 魏白蒂) is a historian and a writer.

Biography

Born in China to

Hsioh-ren Wei Hsioh-Ren Wei or Wei Xueren (; 1899–1987) was born in Nanjing, Jiangsu. He entered the private University of Nanking in 1918 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1922. In 1925, he received a scholarship to pursue graduate studies in phy ...

, a Chinese scientist, educator and diplomat, Wei moved to New York City at the age of 16. She was the first Asian student to study at the

Chapin School Chapin School is an all-girls independent day school in New York City's Upper East Side neighborhood in Manhattan. History Maria Bowen Chapin opened "Miss Chapin's School for Girls and Kindergarten for Boys and Girls" in 1901. The school origin ...

. She holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science from

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

and a master's degree in International Relations and Law from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. In 1975, she moved to Hong Kong with her husband and later went to pursue a doctorate degree in Modern Chinese History at the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

. She has served as the Head of Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies at the

Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) (Chinese: 香港演藝學院) is a provider of tertiary education in Hong Kong. Located near the north coast of Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, the main campus also functions as a venue for pe ...

from 1994 until her retirement in 2003. She is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre of Asian Studies at the

, Honorary Professor at the Institute of Qing History,

Renmin University of China The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. RUC ...

and a member of the

Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch is an organisation to encourage interest in Asia broadly, with an emphasis on Hong Kong. The society was founded in 1847 and folded 1859. It was revived on December 28, 1959. Its parent association is the Roya ...

Publications

* Shanghai: Crucible of Modern China (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987) * Old Shanghai (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993) *

Liu Chi-Wen Liu Chi-wen (October 19, 1890 – April 13, 1957, from Guangzhou (Canton)), was a known follower of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Chinese Republic and the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang). He was educated in Japan, at the London Sc ...

: biography of a revolutionary leader (Hong Kong: The Liu Chi-Wen Family, 2005) * Ruan Yuan, 1764-1849: The Life And Work of a Major Scholar-official in Nineteenth Century China Before the Opium War (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2006)

External links

Betty Wei's Profile at the Royal Asiatic Society
1930 births Living people Bryn Mawr College alumni New York University alumni Chapin School (Manhattan) alumni {{China-historian-stub