By Irene Eber  

Chen Shou-Yi (Chen Shou-yi, 1899-1978) was born in Canton (Guangzhou) into a family noted for their scholarship and educational leadership. Instructed by a family tutor, his formal education began at the age of nine. At the age of twelve he became a student at Canton Christian College (later Lingnan University), from where he graduated in 1920. During his graduate study at the University of Chicago, between 1925 and 1928, his interests in East-West cultural relations developed, for which his courses later at Pomona College were especially well known. After earning his Ph.D., he returned to Lingnan University and in 1930 joined the Beida faculty where he accepted the chairmanship of the history department. A sabbatical leave in 1936 brought Chen Shou-yi as visiting professor to Pomona College, but on his return to China the Sino-Japanese War had broken out in July 1937. Professor Chen first accepted an appointment at the University of Hawaii in 1937 and in 1941 came to Claremont where he taught at Pomona College until 1967 and at the Claremont Graduate School until 1955. Due to his enlightened leadership, his great erudition, and his scholarly reputation, both the undergraduate and graduate programs in Asian Studies developed rapidly in the post-World War II period at these institutions. Well known for his important work on East-West cultural relations, Chen Shou-yi is also credited with bringing a number of famous scholars to Claremont, among them Hu Shi and Daisetz T. Suzuki. In the growth and development of Asian Studies on the West Coast, the Claremont Colleges and Professor Chen occupy a leading place.