Friday, May 17, 2019

Harvard Professor Larry Ho From Many Places




Mathemetician, control theorist, and retired Harvard University professor at the School of Engineering and Science, Dr. Larry Yu-Chi Ho, hesitates to name just one place he is from. 
He was born in Shanghai in 1934, right before the onset of the Japanese invasion and WWII. However, as his father, Chin Woo Ho, served in Chiang Kai Chek’s government, during the war, they moved from the port city of Shanghai to the interior, one place after another. (Langchao, Xian, Congqing). “We moved around a lot. I went to five different elementary schools.”

Larry rarely saw his father, and not just because of the war. “I have a very complicated family situation. My father was dirt poor. He grew up with nothing.  But he was quite capable, I guess, and educated himself.  During the northern campaign in the war, he made great contributions. Then he became wealthy….At that time, any man who was successful had more than one wife.” Larry’s father had four. 

To be continued. Next: Larry Arrives in U.S. Alone at 16.

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