Chang-lin Tien (; July 24, 1935 – October 29, 2002) was a
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 m ...
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
of
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
and university administrator. He was the seventh chancellor of the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
(1990–1997), and in that capacity was the first person of Asian descent to head a major
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in the United States.
Biography
Early years
Born in
Huangpi
Huangpi District () is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China, situated on the northern (left) bank of the Yangtze River. The Sheshui enters the Yangtze at Huangpi. The district is ...
,
Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, Tien and his family fled to
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
in 1949 at the end of the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
. He earned a
BS in
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
from the
National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan.
The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...
in 1955 and went on to a fellowship at the
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...
in 1956, where he received an
MME in heat transfer in 1957. He then earned his
MA and
PhD degrees in mechanical engineering from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
in 1959.
Career
Tien joined UC Berkeley faculty as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in 1959, and three years later, at the age of 26, became the youngest professor ever to be honored with UC Berkeley's Distinguished Teaching Award.
He was promoted to full professor in 1968 and served as the chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 1974 to 1981. From 1983 to 1985, he served as vice chancellor of research. Tien spent his entire career at Berkeley, except for 1988–90 when he was executive vice-chancellor of
UC Irvine
UC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two
** '' University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme
* Universal Century, one of the ti ...
. In 1999, Tien received the prestigious title of "
University Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
".
Tien was an expert in
thermal science
''Thermal Science'' is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal orientated to the basic research results in the fields of physics and chemistry. The journal was founded in 1997 year by the former Yugoslav Society of Heat Transfer Engineers ...
and researched on thermal radiation, thermal insulation, microscale thermal phenomena, fluid flow, phase-change energy transfer, heat pipes, reactor safety, cryogenics, and fire phenomena,
authoring more than 300 research journal and monograph articles, 16 edited volumes, and one book. Up until 2005, his work was posthumously published in the ''Annual Review of Heat Transfer''.
As chancellor, Tien was a leading supporter of
affirmative action. After the
Regents
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
banned the use of racial preferences in 1995 for university admissions, Tien launched the "Berkeley Pledge," an outreach program designed to recruit disadvantaged students from the state's public schools. Amid an 18% budget cut, Tien launched "The Promise of Berkeley – Campaign for the New Century", a fundraising drive that raised $1.44 billion.
In December 1996, President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
put him on the shortlist of candidates for
United States Secretary of Energy
The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and fifteenth in the United States presidential line of succession, presidential line of succession. The po ...
, but Tien was removed after the
Chinese campaign finance scandal made headlines; the unsealed
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
file for Tien showed he had been investigated as a potential foreign agent as early as 1973, but no evidence ever was found to support this assumption.
Known for his "Go Bears!" spirit, Tien was very popular with students, often showing up at student rallies and sporting events wearing his "Cal" baseball cap. He was commonly seen picking up trash in
Sproul Plaza
Sproul Plaza (pronounced ) is one center of student activity at the University of California, Berkeley. It is divided into two sections: Upper Sproul and Lower Sproul. They are vertically separated by and linked by a set of stairs.
History
S ...
, appearing in the library in the middle of the night during finals week, or checking up on students in the residence halls and classrooms.
[
After stepping down from the chancellorship in 1997, Tien was appointed to the ]National Science Board
The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. The NSB also serves as an ind ...
and the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century in 1999. He was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2000 and suffered a stroke during surgery to treat it, prompting his resignation in 2001.[
Tien was a member of the ]National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...
, the Academia Sinica
Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...
(in Taiwan), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
, the American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...
, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...
, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republ ...
(in mainland China).
Personal life
During his residency in the United States, Tien became an American citizen.
Shortly before instruction for the 1992–93 academic year started, a young woman named Rosebud Denovo
Rosebud Abigail Denovo (August 10, 1973 – August 25, 1992), known as Rosebud, was a protester who was killed by police following a break-in of University House, the on-campus home of the Chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Ear ...
was killed by police after she broke into University House, the chancellor's residence, during an apparent assassination attempt. Tien and his family were unharmed.
Tien died in Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...
at the age of 67. A brain tumor had forced him into hospitalization two years earlier; while hospitalized, he suffered a stroke from which he never fully recovered. He was survived by his wife Di-Hwa, his son Norman Tien, currently Dean of the Faculty of Engineering 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 ...
since June 2012, and daughters Christine Tien, Stockton's deputy city manager, and Dr. Phyllis Tien, a UC San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It condu ...
physician.
Legacy
* Asteroid "Tienchanglin" (formerly #3643), discovered by the Zi Jin Mountain Observatory in China in 1978, was formally named for the former chancellor in 1999.
* Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crud ...
was christened in 2000 for the Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to Socal or CalSo), it is headquartered in S ...
. It was subsequently renamed to after being sold to Space Shipping in 2003, then after being sold to Maran Tankers in 2014.
* The ''Tien Center for East Asian Studies'' at UC Berkeley opened in 2008.
* Asian Pacific Fund's Chang-Lin Tien Award.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tien, Chang-Lin
1935 births
2002 deaths
Leaders of the University of California, Berkeley
Chinese emigrants to the United States
Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
National Taiwan University alumni
People from Wuhan
Princeton University alumni
Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal
American people of Taiwanese descent
UC Berkeley College of Engineering faculty
University of Louisville alumni
Members of Academia Sinica
Educators from Hubei
Scientists from Hubei
Chinese Civil War refugees
Taiwanese people from Hubei
Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering
20th-century American academics