Obituary for Prof. Wilson Tang, Our Former Department Head from 1996-2002
Prof. Wilson H. Tang, Head of Civil Engineering at HKUST from 1996 to 2002, passed away in the company of his loving family in Chicago on January 5, 2012 at the age of 68.
Born in Hong Kong, Prof. Tang pursued further studies in the US after completing his high school education at La Salle College. He earned his Bachelors (1966) and Masters (1967) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and completed his Doctorate from Stanford University (1969), all in Civil Engineering. He taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for 27 years before joining the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Civil Engineering in 1996. Under his leadership, the department evolved into one of the best in Asia. Prof. Tang loved his students, and had mentored numerous graduate students and younger colleagues at both universities. He retired in 2009, but remained active in research, teaching and public service.
Prof. Tang had a distinguished academic career in which he made significant contributions in the areas of safety and reliability analysis in civil engineering. He had led the profession in promoting and pioneering the use of reliability-based methods for risk mitigation and design in various areas, particularly in geotechnical engineering. His expertise covered application of probability methods to the wide area of civil infrastructure engineering and management. He had more than 250 technical publications and his co-authored book (with A. H-S Ang) on Probability Concepts in Engineering Planning & Design, revised in 2007, has been widely adopted by top universities worldwide. The book has also been translated into five languages, including Japanese and Korean, and the Chinese translation is currently in progress.
Prof. Tang led and served on several major international boards and committees, including local professional societies and government boards. Being a well-recognized leader in his field, he has received numerous awards and honors including the State of the Art award, Fellow and Distinguished Member from the American Society of Civil Engineers, T.K. Hsieh Award from the Institution of Civil Engineers U.K., U.S. Offshore Energy Center’s Hall of Fame, Guggenheim Fellow, Harza Best Paper Award, Natural Science Award from the Ministry of Education of China, Fellow and Vice President of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, and Honorary Professorship at several major universities. A prestigious keynote lecture, the Wilson Tang Lecture, of the serial conferences of International Symposium on Geotechnical Safety & Risk, was inaugurated in 2009 to recognize and honor his significant contributions.
Over the past year, while courageously battling with his illness, Prof. Tang never stopped his research and teaching activities. He has carried out research collaboration and lectured at Tongji University in Shanghai for a couple of months. While in Hong Kong, he came back to HKUST several times a week to continue his research work. Even before leaving for Chicago last November, he was discussing with colleagues about new directions in geotechnical risk assessment. In Prof. Tang, we see a most devoted researcher and an extremely strong human being, with a passion for his work and his life. Prof. Tang has left us, but the Department will always remember him as a great person whom we all aspire to follow.
Prof. Tang is survived by his wife of 42 years, Bernadette; a son and daughter-in-law, Tze-John and Ann; a daughter and son-in-law, Joyce and Michael; and three grandchildren.
An online tribute for Tang is at the following website: http://www.ultimatetributes.com/pages/explore-tributes.asp?id=6175
