The College of Science received a generous endowment gift from the estate of Dr. Samuel Shan-Ning Wang. The gift will go toward the Betty Wang Discovery Fund, which was established in 2018 by Dr. Samuel Wang to support College of Science faculty.
Samuel and Betty Wang met at Oregon State University and were married for 52 years before Ms. Wang’s passing in 2007. Ms. Wang arrived in Corvallis having previously earned her bachelor’s of science from National Kwangski University in 1942 and her master’s of science from the University of Minnesota in 1949. Dr. Wang earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1956 and a master’s degree in organic chemistry in 1959, both from Oregon State University. From Corvallis, the couple moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Wang earned a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 1961.
Dr. Wang spent his entire career at Cytec Industries, Inc., retiring in 1998. At Cytec, he helped produce building block chemicals to make composites and adhesives for the aerospace industry and resins and coatings for metal, plastic and wood. Among his other accomplishments, Dr. Wang developed the adhesive that is used to glue airplane wings onto the body of airplanes. He held multiple U.S. patents from his work.
Since the Betty Wang Discovery Fund’s creation in 2018, the College of Science has made three awards to faculty to maintain state-of-the-art facilities and advance scientific discoveries:
- • Associate professor of Chemistry Chong Fang was awarded funds for a new fluorometer in the ultrafast laser spectroscopy lab at the Linus Pauling Science Center.
- • Chemistry professors Chris Beaudry and Paul Blakemore received a grant to purchase an improved model of a microwave synthesis reactor, an essential technology for organic synthesis.
- • Chemistry professors Kyriakos Stylianou and May Nyman, along with Todd Miller from the Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Institute, received funding for a microwave reactor to investigate the potential of new metal-organic frameworks to capture carbon in laboratory and industrial applications.
The College of Science is deeply grateful for the generosity of our alumni like Dr. Samuel and Ms. Betty Wang. With their support, our faculty are advancing fundamental research to address today’s global challenges.
For more information on how you can leave a lasting legacy through your estate that benefits the College of Science, please contact Marlys Amundson at the OSU Foundation.
