December 17, 2007
With sadness and respect, St. John's University School of Law
notes the passing of Kenneth Wang, a beloved faculty member for
over thirty years. Professor Wang, who retired from the law
faculty in 1984, died on December 14th at his home on Long
Island.
Professor Wang was born in China in 1914. He graduated
from Soochow University School of Law in 1938, and
then practiced law in Shanghai until 1945, when he was
recruited to be a judge of the Court of Appeals for Shanghai.
In 1947, he was awarded a fellowship by Harvard University School
of Law where he earned an LLM degree. He returned to China in
1948 to resume his law practice and to teach at Soochow University.
In 1949, he became President of Aurora College for Women in
Shanghai. In 1952, Professor Wang and his family moved to the
United States, and he joined the law faculty at St. John's, where
he taught international law, contracts, and corporations. He
also served as a Visiting Professor of Law at Michigan University
Law School in 1963, participated in the White House Conference on
International Law and International Cooperation in 1964, and served
on the panel of arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association
for many years. By the time he retired from St. John's,
Professor Wang had taught and inspired generations of young lawyers
and future leaders in business and government.
After his retirement from St. John's, Professor Wang became the
senior partner of Wang and Wang in Taipei, a law firm specializing
in transnational law. St. John's honored him in 1984 with the
President's Medal, in 1987 with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree,
and in 1992 with the Medal of Honor. In 2003, Soochow
University honored him by renaming its law school the Kenneth Wang
School of Law. In recent years, Professor Wang’s family –
through the Wang Family Foundation – has provided generous
fellowships for St. John’s students to study in China at the
Kenneth Wang School of Law.
Professor Wang was the beloved husband of Mary, and cherished
father of Anthony, Charles and Francis and their wives, Lulu, Nancy
and Laura. He was much beloved by his seven grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren. He was also the much loved brother of
Hsiang-Ming Hsia.