Dr. Richard Chu - Eisenhower College Alumni Association

2014 Founders Award
Dr. Richard Chu
A native of China, Dr. Richard Chu arrived at Eisenhower with the College’s second class in
1969. What led him to Seneca Falls? His answer is three-fold. He comments, “In my generation,
who went through World War II, what a great hero General Eisenhower was in Asia! Any
association with that name and person is such an honor and satisfaction!” He adds that, following
completion of his education in the mid-‘60s, he had opted to teach in the south to “experience
more closely U.S. racial discrimination.” After three years, he decided he wanted to return to
New York. A story in the American Historical Society Bulletin indicating that Eisenhower was
hiring was enough to elicit his resume. Dr. Chu notes that a few days after mailing his
application he received a phone call from Ira Berger, who was already teaching at the College.
Dr. Chu and Ira had been colleagues at Brooklyn College as well as fellow students at
Columbia’s History Department. Dr. Chu writes that Ira “told me that I got the job even without
an interview; of course with his recommendation!” And the rest, as they say, is history. Wait.
Hold on. That third reason you ask? A girlfriend in the Finger Lakes. He quips, “Evidently, that
romance did not succeed.”
Named as Associate Professor of History, Dr. Chu’s credentials were already impressive. He had
earned his bachelor’s degree at Taiwan University, his master’s at the University of California at
Berkeley and his Ph.D. at Columbia University. Immediately prior to joining the Eisenhower
faculty, he had been at Winthrop College, which had been preceded by teaching experiences in
Taiwan, and at Columbia, the University of Pittsburgh, Brooklyn College, Old Dominion and
Hamilton College. His resume also detailed an undergraduate fellowship, French certificates,
multiple publications and an American Philosophical Society Fellowship. Fluent in Chinese,
Japanese, French and English, he was to be forgiven if he spoke with a bit of an accent.
Eight a.m. was not the optimal time for a lecture, and for many of us, 9 a.m. wasn’t much better.
Our faculty, on the other hand, always seemed at the top of their game and it was up to us to
keep our pencils sharp and our ears sharper. What many recall, fondly, about notes recorded in
some of Dr. Chu’s lectures, is that we scurried to keep up and were sometimes left scratching our
heads over notes written in haste that seemed, upon further reflection to make little sense or and
bear even less resemblance to our readings. This challenged us to both listen and work harder
and never assume we had anything entirely right. Fortunately, Dr. Chu seemed to have enduring
patience to assist us in these endeavors.
In my mind, these endearing and lasting memories of this remarkable professor bear testament to
the animated and often rapid-fire manner in which he imparted knowledge, always with great
enthusiasm coupled with a sometimes self-depreciating sense of humor and a seemingly, everpresent smile. And while he frequently appeared in a hurry, he never really was. There was
always time for a student or a colleague.
Dr. Chu told me he liked the World Studies Program, particularly, it would seem, the lectures.
“The big auditorium lectures gave me a chance to practice speaking to a large crowd. Meanwhile,
you had to prepare for it. In that program, you also learned a lot with students from other
professors in different fields. Thus it was also a learning process.”
JIST—our January Independent Study Term—was also a hit with Dr. Chu. He notes, “As a
faculty member, you could be very creative to try to do anything you could imagine as long as
your project could attract enough students.” One of the projects he recalls, which has a very
interesting back story was titled, "Investigate the Secret Societies in the Finger Lakes Region.”
He states that “At first, I didn't know how to approach this topic. But soon I discovered about
half a dozen such groups just between Geneva and Auburn. The next question was how to
approach them? To my great surprise, President Rosenkrans, as a local businessman, knew all
the ‘Chief Gangsters.’” He adds that, “in fact, the societies were primarily social clubs in our
time.” Another offering he fondly recalls was one undertaken jointly with Professor of Sociology
Hector Velez. The pair took a group of students to the Dominican Republic, providing them an
opportunity to experience first-hand that tropical culture. Dr. Chu’s other JIST offerings included
sessions on the Chinese Power Elite, Futurology, American Minorities, and Women in China.
Over nearly four decades, first at Eisenhower and subsequently at R.I.T. from where he retired in
2007 and was designated as Professor Emeritus in the College of Liberal Arts, Richard Chu has
left an indelible mark on his students and colleagues and distinguished himself in numerous ways.
At the end of his first year on the Eisenhower faculty, he was invited to participate in two
summer seminars: one at Columbia focused on traditional China and one at SUNY-Buffalo
centered on African and Afro-American studies. There would be many subsequent invitations
that would encompass presentations at the national and regional level for groups including the
Association of Asian Studies and the American Oriental Society. He conducted research on
Chinese Secret Societies, penned articles focusing on topics ranging from Prospects for China’s
Unification to a bibliography of Sino-Japanese Relations spanning 1895 to 1945 and book
reviews on material published by the Journal of the Chinese Language Association and the
Journal of Asian Studies. Additionally, he was designated by the U.S. State Department as a
Foreign Language Specialist in Chinese and served as a national board member for the New
China Policy Committee. During the Eisenhower years, he was twice-named as an Outstanding
Educator of America.
Promoted to full professor at Eisenhower in 1972, he served our College in numerous capacities:
as coordinator of the World Studies social science segment, director of the critical languages
program, chairman of the Asian studies program and director of the social sciences division.
Additionally, he was a member of the College’s Admission, and Curriculum and Academic
Regulations committees, and chaired the 1973-74 Convocation and Commencement Committee
and the 1971-72 and 1976-77Accreditation Self-Study Committee on Administration, while also
serving on the Self-Study Curriculum Committee. When Eisenhower merged with RIT, he was
one of a group of 20 faculty from both schools who engaged in an intensive planning project
meant to develop long-range program ideas for students on the Eisenhower campus.
In the local community, he was known for his service as a director on the Seneca County boards
of the Red Cross, Health Advisory, Mental Health, and Association for Retarded Citizens, along
with membership on the Special Education Committee of the Seneca Falls school system. He
was also a tireless volunteer with local Indochinese refugees. He has long been recognized as an
individual who believed in and practiced “thinking globally” while “acting locally.”
Dr. Richard Chu: In recognition of the innumerable ways you contributed to the intellectual and
personal development of the students of Eisenhower College and lived, by example, the tenants
at the heart of World Studies, we are pleased to recognize you as a 2014 recipient of the
Eisenhower College Alumni Association’s Founders Award.

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