Edward T. Wong Papers, 1958-1990
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
Edward Tak-Wah Wong was born in Hong Kong on 4 July 1924, the son of K.C. Wong and Pearl Tom. Wong lived for a time in Australia and then returned to China where he attended boarding school until the Sino-Japanese War and World War II disrupted the lives of his family. After the war, Wong somehow managed to travel to the United States and resided in San Francisco, California. There he worked (waiting on tables and parking and washing cars) and attended evening college, then he enrolled at the University of Washington after receiving financial aid made available through a special federal program to assist Chinese students.
He received his B.S., major in mathematics (1951), and his M.S., mathematics (1952) from the University of Washington, and his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Rochester (1956). Wong's teaching career included a Teaching Fellowship in Mathematics, University of Rochester (1952-55); Math Instructor, University of Rochester (1955-56); Math Instructor, University of Connecticut (1956-57); Post-doctoral Fellow in Mathematics, Yale University (1956-57); and a faculty member of the Oberlin College Department of Mathematics (Assistant Professor, 1957-61; Associate Professor, 1961-67; and, Professor, 1967-1988). He served on the Research and Development Committee (1971-72 and 1978-79) and the Minorities Programs Committee (1974-76) at Oberlin College. Wong retired from Oberlin College in 1988, but returned to teach one math course during the Fall Semester of 1990.
Wong was a very active researcher and writer. He contributed articles to scholarly mathematics journals, provided more than 30 solutions to math problems for the American Mathematical Monthly, and refereed articles and reviewed books. Wong's writings focused on topics such as Self-Injective Rings, Linear Algebra, and the Moore-Penrose Inverses. Along with Robert R. Stoll, he co-authored Linear Algebra, a mathematics textbook published in 1968.
Wong made several trips to China as a visiting professor, including Tunghai University as a Shansi Faculty Fellow (1973-74), Fudan University (1980-81), and Zhongsan University (1983). In addition, he took sabbaticals to do research and lecturing in Japan (1963-64, 1968-69) and England (1968-69).
Wong was an advisor for more than 25 honors projects during his teaching career at Oberlin College. He helped many of his students continue their training in graduate programs and fellowship positions. Samuel Goldberg, emeritus professor of Mathematics, described Wong as an energetic teacher who helped many of his students and they, in turn, were very fond of him. Wong was considered the senior fellow among the Chinese members of the Oberlin community and he was always willing to assist them in any way possible. Goldberg added that he was a friendly, outgoing person who enjoyed teaching and discussing mathematics, but also liked fishing, gardening and tennis. (From the interview with Sam Goldberg and Goldberg's memorial minute of Edward Wong)
Edward Wong was a member of the American Mathematical Society and Sigma Xi. He was married to Kazuko Moriwaki (b. 1932), who worked in the Oberlin College Library's Cataloging Department from 1977-1987. The Wongs had three sons, David, Stephen, and Kenneth. David Wong taught physics and chemistry at Oberlin High School. Stephen Wong is currently a Visiting Professor in the Physics Department at Oberlin College (1997).
Edward T. Wong died of cancer at his home in Oberlin on 26 December 1993.
Sources Consulted
Goldberg, Samuel, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics (interviewed by Roland Baumann, July 16, 1997).
Goldberg, Samuel, "Memorial Minute, Edward Tak-Wah Wong, Professor of Mathematics, 1924-1993", Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Vol. 90, No. 2, Summer 1994, pp. 45-46.
Wong, Edward T., faculty file, Alumni and Development Records (RG 28/3).
Author: Kenneth M. Grossi Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
The papers of Edward T. Wong document Wong's career as a teacher, advisor, researcher, and writer. The majority of the files concern Wong's career as a professor of mathematics at Oberlin College. The Instructional and Student Files series contains materials concerning the courses taught by Wong, grades and exams, student papers and projects, and letters of reference written for students. In addition, the Miscellaneous Professional Files include documentation related to Wong's positions as a visiting professor or research fellowship at other academic institutions. Series V. Writings Files illustrates the extent of Wong's research and writing skills, and his interest in finding solutions to mathematical problems. The Correspondence series primarily contains personal letters from friends and acquaintances. There are gaps in the date order of this series, as noted in the series description below. The Correspondence and Biographical Series concern the personal life of Edward Wong, but this a small portion of the collection (9 folders). Wong's service to Oberlin College (re: committees, etc.) is not well documented.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Biographical Files, 1961, 1978-1981, 1985, 1990, n.d. (5 folders)
The Biographical Files include Edward T. Wong's resumes and curriculum vitae, financial, photographs, and a membership card for the American Mathematical Society. Also included are self-evaluations completed by Edward T. Wong.
Series II. Correspondence - Personal, 1967-72, 1980-89 (6 folders)
The correspondence, which are primarily letters from colleagues, friends and acquaintances of Edward T. Wong, concern friendships, trips, and exchange of family stories. A restricted file contains correspondence concerning a home loan. Also included is correspondence concerning a personal visit to Guangzhou, China in 1986 to visit friends.
Series III. Instructional and Student Files, 1958-1990 (19 folders and 13 grade books)
This series contains materials, student grades, and exams from courses taught by Edward T. Wong at Oberlin College. Recommendations written by Wong for students applying to graduate school, fellowships, or other advance degree programs are also included. The student grades, exams, and letters of recommendation are restricted.
Series IV. Miscellaneous Professional Files, 1962-88 (12 folders)
The files in this series contain documentation pertaining to Wong's positions as a visiting professor, research and teaching fellow, and a lecturer. Also included are letters of reference written for colleagues in the mathematics profession. The letters of reference are restricted.
Series V. Writings Files, 1959-1990, n.d. (33 folders)
This series is divided into four subseries: 1. Articles written by Edward T. Wong, including published and unpublished articles concerning mathematical topics and a memorial minute written for John Daniel Baum (d. 1987), Oberlin College professor of mathematics; 2. Article reviews by Edward T. Wong; 3. Solutions to Math Problems by Edward T. Wong; and, 4. Writings of other authors collected by Edward T. Wong. Many of the folders in this series contain correspondence concerning the article or publication.
INVENTORY
Series I. Biographical
Box 1
American Mathematical Society Membership
Card, n.d.
Curriculum vitae and resumes (Edward T. Wong),
1961, 1980-81, 1985, 1990
Financial: stocks and bonds list, n.d.
Photographs: Edward T. Wong, family (?), and
friends, n.d.
Self-Evaluation of (Edward T. Wong), 1978-79
Series II. Correspondence - Personal
Box 1 (cont.)
Chao, C.Y., Ed Devol, Barbara Fallis, Lila McCarty,
Ma Kam Oi, Bruce Peterson, Ray Tamra (?),
Rosaline Yueng (2 letters), and Allen, Anita,
Ming-sui, and Vivian, one unidentified,
1980-1989
Guangzhou, China (Zhongshan University) visit, 1986
Kodani, Sadao, RE: financial loan for home for
Edward Wong, 1967-1972 (restricted)
Miscellaneous letters, 1985, n.d.
Wong, Ta Sing (Edward’s brother) to a friend (?),
January 12, 1980
Series III. Instructional and Student Files
Box 2
Examinations for math courses, 1971-1979 [broken]
Grade Record Books, 1958-66, 1969-80, 1990
(restricted) (13 books and 1 folder)
See box 4
Math Department (general information), 1985
Recommendations for students, 1962-1990
(8f) (restricted)
Recommendations for Foreign Student Visas,
1990 (restricted)
Student Examinations, Math 232, Fall 1990 (restricted)
Student Examinations, Math 327, Fall 1990 (restricted)
Student Papers (restricted)
Summer Mathematics Independent Study Program,
Report on, 1965
Box 3
Syllabus and other course materials, 1970s,
1987-88, and n.d. (2f)
Winter Term Projects, 1983
Box 4: Grade Record Books and folder, see Series III.
Series IV. Miscellaneous Professional Files
Box 5
Applied Algebra, Conference on, lectures,
Guangzhou, China, 1983-85
Faculty Research Status Fellowship, Proposals,
1962-67
Fudan University Visiting Professorship, China
(1980), 1977-80
Kyoto University Fellowship, 1962-63
Leave of duty applications, 1972, 1975, 1982, 1985
Recommendations for colleagues, 1975, 1977 (restricted)
Taiwan, National Taiwan University (declined), 1969-71
Tunghai University Visiting Professorship, Shansi
Faculty Fellowship Program, China, 1972-74,
1982-83, n.d. (4f)
Yunnan University Visiting Professorship, China, 1988
Series V. Writings File
Subseries 1. Articles (arranged alphabetically)
Box 6
"About the Matrix Equation AX-XA=C", 1985
"Almost Commutative Rings and Their Integral
Extensions", 1975-1976
"Atomic Quasi-Injective Modules", 1964
Baum, John Daniel, Memorial Minute, 1988
"Central Extensions of Regular Rings", 1970?
"The Chinese Remainder Theorem in Reduced
Rings", n.d.
"Does the Generalized Inverse of 'A' Commute
with 'A'?", 1986
"Endomorphisms of the Quasi-Injective Hull of
a Module", 1970
"Generalized Inverse of a Linear Transformation",
1978-1979
"Integral Extensions of A Regular Ring", 1972
"Involutory Functions and Moore-Penrose Inverse of
Materials in an Arbitrary Field", 1982
"Jacobson-Bourbaki Correspondence", 1967
"Linear Algebra" (R.R. Stall, co-author), answers to
miscellaneous exercises, 1968
Mathematical terms in English and Chinese, n.d. (a booklet)
"A Method for Calculating the Moore-Penrose Inverse
of a Matrix", c. 1982
"On Commutativity of A Matrix and Its Generalized
Inverse", 1985
"Polygons, Circulant Matrices, and Moore-Penrose
Inverses", 1981
"Preference Anarchy" (Alfred MacKay, co-author), 1979
"Quasi-Injective Modules and Irreducible Rings", 1961
"Regular Rings and Integral Extension of a Regular
Ring", 1972
"Rings with Nonzero Singular Ideals", 1970-1971
"Self-Injective Rings" (R.E. Johnson, co-author), 1959
"Some Properties of Generalized Inverses of Linear
Transformations in an Arbitrary Field", c. 1980s
Subseries 2. Article Reviews
Reviews of Articles by Edward T. Wong, 1959-60, 1967,
1970-79, 1983, 1989, 1991 (2f)
Subseries 3. Solutions to Math Problems
Solutions to Math Problems by Edward T. Wong,
c. 1960-1980s (2f)
Subseries 4. Writings of other authors collected by Edward T. Wong
Box 7
Articles and papers concerning mathematics, 1945,
1971-78, 1987-88, 1990, n.d. (6f)