The Wu Family & the Columbia University Connection with China

Daivd Wu, MD, and Roger Wu, MD, presented at the 2018 symposium in New York.

The late Dr. Clyde Wu and his wife Mrs. Helen Wu established the Wu Family China Center for Health Initiatives with an endowment in 2015, although their philanthropic contributions started much earlier - in the 1990's. 

One of Dr. and Mrs. Wu's philanthropic efforts was the Wu Fellows Program, which enabled Chinese physician-scientists to acquire advanced medical training and perform research at Columbia University VP&S. 

Dozens of Wu Fellows have been trained at VP&S, for periods of one to two years, before returning to their medical institutions in China to prepare for leadership positions. Former Wu Fellows are now heads of departments, deans of medical schools, and presidents of hospitals.

One distinguished Wu Fellow, Chen Zhu, MD, PhD (Honorary Columbia Doctor of Science 2016), rose to become China’s Minister of Health. After completing a six-year tenure in this role, Dr. Chen was named Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and President of the Red Cross Society of China.

As mentioned in the article Building a Bridge of Medical Knowledge, the Wu Family Way, "The Wu Family China Center for Health Initiatives is the culmination of the philanthropic largesse of Dr. Wu and his wife, Helen," said Peter Wortsman (Wortsman, 2018). 

And Some History

VP&S has collaborated with Chinese universities, medical schools, and hospitals since the early 20th century.

Columbia University's connection to China started with philosopher John Dewey, of Columbia Teacher’s College, whose pragmatic thinking influenced a generation of Chinese intellectuals, including one of Dewey’s Columbia students, Hu Shih, (PhD 1917). Dr. Hu is considered the 'Father of the Chinese Renaissance' in education and served as trustee of Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), in its heyday as China’s and Asia’s most respected and influential medical school.

A number of faculty members from PUMC later taught at VP&S, including Frank Meleney MD (VP&S 1916), who discovered anaerobic micro-streptococci; Jerome Webster MD, the father of plastic surgery; and Harry Van Dyke MD, the father of modern pharmacology.

Reference: Wortsman, P. (2018). Building a Bridge of Medical Knowledge, the Wu Family Way. Columbia Medicine. Retrieved from http://www.columbiamedicinemagazine.org/alumni-news-notes/fall-2018/buil...