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Release: March 21, 1995
Contact: Ann Haver-Allen (609/258-3617)


UC-Berkeley Chancellor Tien to
Deliver Wu Lecture at Princeton University

PRINCETON, N.J.-- Chang-Lin Tien, a member of Princeton
University's graduate Class of 1959 and chancellor of the
University of California at Berkeley, will speak at Princeton
University Friday, April 7, as the Gordon Wu Distinguished
Lecturer of PrincetonÕs School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Tien, the first Asian-American to head a major research university
in the United States, will present a socio-historical perspective
on overseas Chinese engineers. The lecture will explore the
evolving role of Chinese engineers this century and how it has
been influenced by the United States.

China has a long history of developing innovative technology.
Civilization has flourished continuously in that country from
about 2000 B.C., and technology has always been integrated into
society. Many technologies and discoveries have Chinese roots. The
Chinese were among the first people to use hydraulic engineering
to control the floods of the Yellow River. Using that knowledge,
they developed water-powered mechanical clocks. Some credit the
development of the windmill to the Chinese. Other engineering
feats include the Great Wall (3rd century BC); silk production
(3rd century BC); a canal system for transportation that
eventually became the worldÕs longest man-made waterway (begun in
608 and still in use); and formation of black powder, otherwise
known as gunpowder (9th century AD). All of these technologies
were eventually exported to the West, but the process was slow,
often taking several hundreds of years. Today, news of
technological discoveries travels much faster and reaches the far
corners of the earth in minutes -Ñ and Chinese engineers are,
again, in the forefront.

Overseas Chinese engineers have played an increasingly
significant role in global industrial and economic development,
Tien says. Particularly noteworthy are their contributions to the
high-tech sector of computers and microelectronics and their role
in the fastest-growing economy of the Southeast Asia region.

Chancellor Tien has a distinguished record as a scientist and
teacher. Internationally recognized for his research in the field
of heat transfer, he has received many honors, including a
Guggenheim Fellowship and the Max Jakob Memorial Award, the
highest honor in the field of heat transfer. He has been a member
of the National Academy of Engineering since 1976 and was elected
in 1991 as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Among several teaching honors, Chancellor Tien in 1962 became the
youngest professor (at age 26) ever to win UC-BerkeleyÕs
prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award. He holds honorary
doctorates from the University of Connecticut, Hong Kong
University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of
Louisville. He serves on the boards of trustees of a number of
organizations, including the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching, the U.S. Committee on Economic
Development, and Princeton University.

Tien, who earned his masterÕs and doctorate in 1959 from
Princeton, will deliver his open lecture at 4 p.m., Friday, April
7, in room 105 of the Computer Science building on Olden Street in
Princeton. A reception will follow.

The Gordon Wu Distinguished Lecturer award was created in 1993 by
the School of Engineering and Applied Science to honor outstanding
achievements and accomplishments by alumni and friends.

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