Chi Nyok Wang (王季玉) (1885–1967), also known as Wang Jiyu, was a Chinese educator, principal of the Tsunghua School for Girls (振華女學校) in Suzhou from 1926 to 1958. She was one of the first two Chinese students at Mount Holyoke College.

Early life and education

Wang was born in Suzhou, China, one of the five daughters of a government official father, Wang Songwie, and a social reformer mother, (王謝長達). Her sister, Chi Che Wang, attended Wellesley College and stayed in the United States to make a career as a biochemist. Wang attended Mount Holyoke College, as one of the school's first two Chinese students, alongside her classmate

Yau Tsit Law Yau Tsit Law (1888-1961) was a Chinese Christian educator, and one of the first Chinese women to graduate from Mount Holyoke College. Early life and education Yau Tsit Law attended the True Light Seminary in Canton, where her mother was the princi ...

. Law and Wang were officers of the school's small Chinese Students' Club. She completed a bachelor's degree in 1916. In 1917, she earned a master's degree in botany at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

, with a thesis titled "Revegetation and Plant Succession along Salt Fork Creek". Her thesis advisor was plant ecologist Walter Byron McDougall.

Career

From 1926 to 1958, Wang was principal of the Tsunghua School for Girls in Suzhou, a Christian school founded by her mother in 1906, though she was offered teaching and administrative positions at other prestigious Chinese institutions. Her sisters Wang Jizhao and Wang Jichang also worked at the school. Boys sometimes attended the school, including anthropologist and sociologist

Fei Xiaotong Fei Xiaotong or Fei Hsiao-tung (November 2, 1910 – April 24, 2005) was a Chinese anthropologist and sociologist. He was a pioneering researcher and professor of sociology and anthropology; he was also noted for his studies in the study o ...

. In 1925 Wang attended the Conference on American Relations with China, held in Baltimore. She was a member of the

Institute of Pacific Relations The Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR) was an international NGO established in 1925 to provide a forum for discussion of problems and relations between nations of the Pacific Rim. The International Secretariat, the center of most IPR activity o ...

when it met in Honolulu in 1925. In 1949 she was again in the United States, to study at

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

Personal life

Wang died in 1967, in her eighties. Her school is now known as Suzhou No.10 Middle School.

References

External links

"Two freshman from the Class of 1916 on Mt. Tom on Mountain Day, l-r, possibly Yau Tsit Law and Chi Nyok Wang, from China"
a photograph in Mount Holyoke College Digital Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Chi Nyok 1885 births 1967 deaths 20th-century Chinese women educators 20th-century Chinese educators Mount Holyoke College alumni University of Illinois alumni People from Suzhou