Samuel C. Chu Memorial Lecture Series in East Asian Studies

Samuel C. Chu (1929-2013) was a distinguished historian of modern China, educator, and academic leader whose career helped establish East Asian studies as a major field at The Ohio State University. Born in Shanghai and educated at Dartmouth College and Columbia University, Chu joined the Ohio State faculty in 1969 after teaching at Bucknell University and the University of Pittsburgh, and later became the founding director of the university’s East Asian Studies Center. Widely respected for his scholarship, he authored Reformer in Modern China: Chang Chien and co-edited influential volumes on Li Hung-chang and Madame Chiang Kai-shek, while also serving as president of the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs. Remembered by colleagues and students for his intellectual leadership and dedication to teaching, Chu retired in 1995 as Professor Emeritus. The Samuel C. Chu Lecture in East Asian Studies, established through the generosity of his wife, Lucy Chu, and their family, honors his enduring legacy as a scholar, mentor, and builder of international understanding.