Tiananmen Massacre Puts a Halt To Plans

Silicon Valley Tech V.P. Dr. Tong Liu was born in 1961 in the countryside near Yangzhou, the southern part of China. (See post one.) He never expected to go to university--not because he didn't want to or because he wasn't intelligent enough--but, the politics of the country made it seem impossible. (See post two.) Liu graduated from Nanjing University, and then--thanks to Professor T. D. Lee of Columbia University--he was given chance to take a physics exam allowing him further study at the University of Virginia in the U.S. (See post three.) Liu was excited to explore the U.S., despite the sometimes hilarious hiccups he had with communication. (See post four.) Upon graduation, Liu took a four-month posting in Holland. (See post five.)

Liu returned to the U.S. to take a position at Carnegie-Melon University. But he still had no real plans to stay in the U.S. He figured he'd go back to China after the Univ. position ended. 

“The Tiananmen event changed the way we were thinking.”

One of Liu’s friends ,who had gone back to China, quickly returned to the U.S. after Tiananmen. One of his wife’s cousins who was in China warned them to, “Think very carefully” before deciding to return. Liu’s own father-in-law said it might be much better to wait because of the situation. So, they decided to stay.
At the same time of the Tiananmen massacre upheaval was also occurring at Liu’s lab. His professor had lost his funding.

So, Liu went to work for Argonne National lab in Chicago, which was the beginning of his work in corporate America. He then moved to the Bay Area and joined a high-tech company. He started as an engineer and became the 2^nd line manager within five years.  

(To be continued. Next: Showing Children A Different Culture.)