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Chi Lung Kang Endowed Lecture Series
The Chi Lung Kang Endowment was established to honor the memory of Chi Lung (Charles) Kang, a PhD graduate of UIUC’s electrical engineering program. Its purpose is to promote dialogue and understanding about China, within the University and in the wider community.
Chi Lung Kang was born into an academic family in Shanghai, China. His father, Kang Shi Qing, was a professor of geology at China's prestigious Chiao Tung (Jiao Tong) University. Chi Lung began his undergraduate studies at Chiao Tung University during the Japanese invasion of China. When the invasion reached Shanghai, he and his family fled to Chong Qing where he worked in an ammunition's factory building arms. At the end of the war, he returned to Chiao Tung where he completed his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. In 1947 he immigrated to the United States to study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he received an M.S. degree in mechanical and electrical engineering and then a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. It was there that he met his wife Chia-chen Chu (Cecilia) who was pursuing her advanced degrees in chemistry at the university. After graduating, they moved to New Jersey, where they were married, had two sons and lived the rest of their lives. He worked at Boonton Radio Corporation, Remington Rand Univac, Princeton University (Forrestal atomic accelerator group), and General Electric conducting high energy engineering and research and development.
Chi Lung championed kindness to all, intellectual curiosity, and a love for China—the "motherland." In addition to being a successful engineer, with several patents, he was a "Renaissance man;" studying, enjoying, and promoting Chinese philosophy, literature, and poetry throughout his entire life.
The Chi Lung Kang Lecture Fund has been endowed by his two sons, Jeffrey and Raymond Kang, in honor of their father and in recognition of his devotion to and love for China and its tremendous history, culture, and philosophy.
Representative lectures and events in the past years:
The inaugural lecture was held on Wednesday, 21 April 2021.
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“Wenren: An Evening with the Music of Chen Yi”
The concert with celebrated musician Chen Yi took place on March 24, 2023
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Haiyan Lee (Stanford University): “In Praise of the Criminal Imagination”
The lecture on literary justice took place on Feb 9, 2024.
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