Dear Friends, Colleagues and Students:
I am so happy to see the official launch of this meaningful Sam and Daisy Wu Scholarship. This is a great way to continue the legacy of Professor Sam Wu and Mrs. Daisy Wu and also to support excellent students who are in need of financial assistance.
Professor Wu graduated from Chiao-Tung University in 1945, earned his M.B.A. from Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania in 1956 and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin- Madison in 1962. Prof. Wu devoted his life to the research and teaching of manufacturing science and engineering. During his career of more than 30 years, including five years at UM, he made an enormous contribution to the manufacturing industry and academics, mentoring over 124 doctoral and 85 master students. Almost half of the current active U.S. faculty in manufacturing engineering worked under him or one of his students. A year before Prof. Wu’s passing, he received the Chiang Technology Achievement Award and donated the entire $100,000 USD cash award to UM, College of Engineering to set up a scholarship. In 1992, he received the UM Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award .
Daisy Te-Hsien Tsui Wu was born in Shanghai and received her B.A. degree in 1955 from the College of St. Benedict and her M.L.S. degree in 1957 from the Catholic University of America. Mrs. Wu came to UM in January 1988 as the management information systems librarian at the University. Before her retirement in 1998, she held simultaneously two positions as the Head of the Science Libraries and also the Head of Engineering Library. She made extraordinary contributions to the University Library. But her greatest work was being the wife of Prof. Wu. For 33 years marriage, Daisy was Sam’s biggest fan, most trusted advisor, and dearest love. Of the hundreds of students and scholars that Sam mentored, all remember Sam with respect and Daisy with love.
After Sam passed away, Daisy set up a Shien-Ming Wu Foundation to continue the legacy of Prof Wu. She provided financial support to establish an international conference on Frontiers of Design and Manufacturing, the largest such conference in Asia. She also provided scholarship support to students in both China and US.
Sam and Daisy had the biggest influence on my personal as well as professional life. I am very grateful for their selfless mentorship, guidance and love. In fact, they had more impact on me than my biological parents .
I deeply appreciate the generous support from many friends and colleagues who helped to launch this scholarship at both UM and SJTU. Particularly, I want to thank
Dr. Larry (Guangxin) Li, who is a first-generation venture capitalist in China, received his PhD from SJTU and did postdoctoral research at UM, is co-founder and managing director of DFJ Dragon Fund China
Mr. John Wu, who is the founder and chairman of H&F Fund Management Group, studied at SJTU and earned his degree at UM, the first CTO of Alibaba
Mrs. Jane Sun, the dear wife of John, who is the CEO of Ctrip International Ltd.
Dr. Lin Zhang, who is the President of Freetech Intelligent Systems, received his BS degrees at SJTU and PhD at UM
Mr. Liming Yu, the President of Zhejiang Liming Engine Parts Co., Ltd., a generous philanthropist,
The Sam and Daisy Wu Foundation And many other major donors and supporters, Dr. Yudong Chen (President of Bosch China), Dr. Michael Gong (Director of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, KKR), Dr. Peter Hua (Managing Partner of SoftBank China Venture Capital), Dr. John Cheng (Managing Director of China International Capital Corporation), and many SJTU leaders and JI leaders.
