The Founders
In 1936 Ms Chung Kwai Lui arrived in the USA as an exchange student on scholarship from China. While experiencing cultural and dietary differences and adjusting to them, she also had to balance her studies with work. She worked at different jobs with odd hours to support herself financially and to avoid interference with her studies. Dr. Chung Kwai Lui overcame these challenges and in 1941 she was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in Physics from Oregon State University. Dr. C.K. Lui went on to become a nationally ranked research scientist who worked on the "Manhattan Project" and who was named "Woman of the Day" by Eleanor Roosevelt on May 30, 1949.
Mr. Hsin Hsu Wei immigrated to the United States after World War II and graduated from Columbia University with a Master Degree in Electrical Engineering. While pursuing his degree at Columbia, he met Dr. Chung Kwai Lui. They were married soon thereafter in 1949. Mr. Wei became a Design and Development Electrical Engineer with Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
Mr. Hsin Hsu Wei and Dr. Chung Kwai Lui Wei both recognized the value of higher education and understood well the financial hardships a student can endure. The Weis designated funds from their estate to establish the Wei Family Private Foundation to offer scholarship grants to support students of Chinese heritage, American or overseas born who are pursuing a degree in Physics or Mathematics at Oregon State University or Electrical Engineering at Columbia University.