This site requires Javascript to be turned on. Please enable Javascript and reload the page.

Dr. Theodore Hsi-en Chen (1902-1991): Chinese American Education Pioneer and Founder of East Asian Studies at USC

Dr. Chen's Support of USC East Asian Library

In his later years Dr. Chen focused on building USC’s East Asian collections. He donated his personal library of over 2,500 volumes of Chinese books to the USC Libraries in the 1970s, which became one of the foundational collections of the current East Asian Library. He and his wife also made several contributions to the library fund for East Asian materials during the 1970s and 1980s. Dr. Chen's family donated his personal papers to the USC Libraries, which includes invaluable materials such as newspaper clippings, administrative notes, and academic publications that document his groundbreaking contributions and legacy. In early 2022, a new endowment in his name was established at USC to honor and continue his legacy of library support.

This page has paths:

Contents of this path:
1. Community Leadership Dr. Chen's community leadership helped build and strengthen the Chinese American community in the greater Los Angeles area and its global connections. He was the founding President of the "Chinese Collegiate Colleagues of Southern California" (CCCSC) when it was first established in 1969. Five years later, CCCSC was renamed as the current "Chinese American Faculty Association (CAFA) of Southern California."
2. Chen Fellowship Dr. Chen and his wife had financially supported students from Taiwan to study at USC 1969-1973 and they established the Theodore and Wen-Hui Chen Fellowship (aka Chen Fmaily Fellowship and Chen Fellowship) in 1991, one of the most competitive USC Graduate School Endowed Fellowships, to assist Chinese students interested in pursuing graduate studies at USC. Since its inception, the Chen Fellowship has benefited over sixty Chinese students.
4. Dr. Chen's Support of USC East Asian Library In his later years Dr. Chen focused on building USC’s East Asian collections. He donated his personal library of over 2,500 volumes of Chinese books to the USC Libraries in the 1970s, which became one of the foundational collections of the current East Asian Library. He and his wife also made several contributions to the library fund for East Asian materials during the 1970s and 1980s. Dr. Chen's family donated his personal papers to the USC Libraries, which includes invaluable materials such as newspaper clippings, administrative notes, and academic publications that document his groundbreaking contributions and legacy. In early 2022, a new endowment in his name was established at USC to honor and continue his legacy of library support.

Contents of this path:

Yan Zhitui 顏之推 (531-ca. 591), an early medieval Chinese courtier, writer, and scholar, wrote this important Chinese classical book about Confucius teaching. Yan discusses a variety of topics in the book, including family relationships and remarriage, religious faith, philology, cultural arts, and public and private codes of conduct. Dr. Chen most likely brought this book from his family's collection in Fuzhou, China, to the United States in order to preserve his family's tradition and heritage.
Dr. Chen donated his personal library of over 2,500 volumes of Chinese books to the USC Libraries in the 1970s, which became one of the foundational collections of the current East Asian Library. Many of his donated books, as evidenced by the displayed titles, were relevant to his research interests and dealt with Communist and Nationalist regimes, events, and figures in China and Taiwan during the Cold War.
Theodore Hsi-en Chen papers consist of administrative and faculty papers from Dr. Chen's chairing of the East Asian Studies Center and its predecessors from 1960 to 1971. The collection also includes material from the 1940s and 1950s, a scrapbook of newspaper clippings on Dr. Chen's career, photographic slides showing Theodore Chen and Wen Hui Chen's tour of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia in 1962, research reports and theses, and a photocopied biography of Theodore Chen. These materials were donated by Theodore Hsi-en Chen and Wen Hui Chen in several installments, beginning in 1972. Available for public viewing, after reservation with USC Special Collections.