Paul Yu () was a Chinese-American academic who was the President of State University of New York at Brockport (SUNY Brockport) between 1997–2004.

Early life and Education

Born in

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

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 ...

, Yu moved with his family to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in 1949 before resettling in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Yu went on to receive bachelor's, master's, and a doctorate in philosophy all from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He was the younger brother of

Yu Ying-shih Yu Ying-shih (; 22 January 1930 – 1 August 2021) was a Chinese-born American historian, sinologist, and the Gordon Wu '58 Professor of Chinese Studies, Emeritus, at Princeton University. He was known for his mastery of sources for Chinese hi ...

Academic career

A scholar in philosophy of language and philosophy of mind, Yu was a philosophy professor at

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

from 1969 to 1980. In the 1980-81 academic year, he was a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

lecturer at the National Taiwan University. Yu returned to Central Michigan University in 1981 as chair of the philosophy department and served in that capacity until 1987, when he moved up to associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Central Michigan. From 1989 to 1991, Yu served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Butler University in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. Yu then became vice president of academic affairs in the 1991–92 school year, then was provost and senior vice president of academic affairs from 1992 to 1997. Yu served as external evaluator for the Chinese University of Hong Kong, National Taiwan University, and the National Science Council of the Republic of China. From 1988 to 1989, Yu served on the Michigan Council for the Humanities from 1988 to 1989. In 1990, Yu was visiting scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, under the Visiting Scholars Exchange Program (VSEP) sponsored by the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. He also joined the Board of Directors of the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA) in 1998.

President of SUNY Brockport (1997–2004)

From 1997 to 2004, Yu was president of

SUNY Brockport State University of New York Brockport (also known as SUNY Brockport or Brockport State, and previously The College at Brockport) is a public university in Brockport, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY). History ...

. During his presidency, SUNY Brockport rose to Tier 2 within the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

system. He also established the Presidential Scholarship program which attracted several top international students to the SUNY Brockport campus.

President of San Jose State University (2004)

On April 20, 2004, the California State University Board of Trustees named Yu as President of

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

, effective July 15. On August 2, just three weeks after taking office, Yu resigned from San Jose State for health reasons. He returned with his family to New York and took a position with SUNY Brockport.

Death

Yu died on December 5, 2016 at the age of 75 after battling Parkinson's disease.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Paul American philosophers 2016 deaths Presidents of campuses of the State University of New York Year of birth missing Educators from Chongqing Central Michigan University faculty Presidents of San Jose State University Philosophers from Chongqing Chinese emigrants to the United States Butler University faculty National Taiwan University faculty Neurological disease deaths in New York (state) Deaths from Parkinson's disease University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni