In memoriam: Iris Chang

Many Uni faculty and former students remember Iris Chang, class of 1985, who was found dead on Tuesday morning. Chang was an extraordinary writer and historian. She wroteThe Thread of the Silkworm (629.1092T778c) when she was only 25. It tells the story of Tsien Hsue-shen, the brilliant Chinese-born scientist who helped pioneer the American space age and, when deported by American authorities, became the father of the Chinese missile program. Chang is most well-known for her best-selling The Rape of Nanking (951.042C362r), a searing description of Japanese atrocities against civilians in China during the late 1930s. Her most recent book, The Chinese in America (973.04951C362c) is a history of Chinese immigrants and their descendants in America. At the time of her death, Chang was working on a book about former U.S. soldiers who fought the Japanese in the Philippines during World War II.

Chang had a tremendous gift for writing rigorously researched history and making it accessible to a wide audience. She leaves behind a tremendous legacy.