Dr Kuang Lu Cheng

By Carolyn Meiling Cheng Tu

In loving memory, my sister Chiling and my brother Hans are joining me to recount our father’s life. Hans told me yesterday that he would be with us in spirit from Switzerland at this very moment.

Our father, Dr. K. L. Cheng, was born on September 14, 1915, at Yangzhou, China. He was the second child with an older brother and three younger sisters in a modest family.

Our father had a strong and independent personality ever since he was little. At the age of 12, he left home to work as a child laborer in Shanghai. Due to malnutrition, he almost died of beri-beri. Luckily, he was taken to a German hospital where the doctor not only saved his life but told him to go home and go to school. He listened to the advice and began to study diligently, a practice that he maintained throughout his life. He called himself a prodigal son coming home.

Dad was a good student, but his family could not afford paying his tuition. One day, he took courage to bring his problem to the principal. After checking on his grades, the principal approved a waiver of his tuition immediately. Dad said that was the happiest day of his life. This hardship made him extremely compassionate to students in need. Later in his life, he set up many scholarships to help students pay tuitions.

Dad’s first job was teaching physical education in a Yangzhou elementary school. He gave his entire salary to Grandmother to support the household. Later, he was transferred to Nanjing where he was exposed to a bigger world and developed a vision of going to college. His dream was coming true when he got admission to the Beijing Teacher’s College. However, this put him in a dilemma because he worried that he would not be able to support Grandma and his younger siblings any longer. It was Uncle Kuang Fu who offered to take over responsibility for the family and encouraged him to go to college.

During the war with Japan, Dad moved to Szechuan with the college staff and eventually graduated from Northwest College of Agriculture, majoring in Agricultural Chemistry. His graduate thesis presented a formula using the chemical elements to replace the traditional technique of making the ‘thousand year old egg’.

After the war, Dad returned to Nanjing. One day he saw people gathering on the street to read a newspaper on the wall. In the paper was a list of people qualified for government scholarships to study in US. To his surprise, his name was on the list! However, Dad hesitated to accept the scholarship because he worried no one would support Grandmother. Again, it was Uncle Kuang-Fu who promised to take over full support for the family and encouraged Dad to go. Until Dad’s last days on earth, he was grateful for Uncle’s support, and credited Uncle for the many achievements in Dad’s life.

Dad received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1951. His dissertation earned him the reputation of a pioneer of the development of PAN as an analytical reagent. On one occasion, he was actually being introduced as Dr. PAN during his visit at a research institute in Moscow.

Before establishing himself in academia, Dad worked for a tobacco company. In a very short time, he surprised the company by identifying all its competitors’ trade secrets. Later, he worked for Westinghouse. Again, in a short time, he resolved a critical problem they had encountered in the semi-conductor research and successfully developed the first semi-conductor for Westinghouse.

Despite of his career success in industry, Dad’s passion was for pure science research. He took a teaching job at the University of Connecticut and later worked for GE/RCA laboratories. In 1966, he was recruited as a professor by the University of Missouri at Kansas City where he spent almost 50 years of his life. During this time, Dad accomplished many significant discoveries, published many papers, obtained patents for his inventions, architected a photoelectron spectrometer (the first at a Midwestern university), and earned a reputation as a world authority on electrode and solid-state chemistry with many recognitions and awards. In later years, he achieved a revolutionary breakthrough in his research of electric interfacial layers by discovering a Triple Layer which he believed to be the answer to the limitation of the existing Double Layer theory (DLVO).

Dad became a true Missourian. He often stressed the importance of experiments to his students with the statement, ‘I’ll show you, but you have to show me.’ He loved Kansas City, UMKC and the Linda Hall Library. Although I had to bring him to southern California when his health was failing, we knew he left his heart in Kansas City.

Besides researching in chemistry, Dad also enjoyed sketching and poetry. He was a world traveler who covered all seven continents including Antarctica. He had theories on longevity, enjoyed creating new words such as Xodarap (opposite of Paradox), and improving Chinese characters by combining many words into one. As late as two months ago, he still asked me to drop him off at the UC Irvine Science library. Although I always worried about his safety, seeing him walking slowly step by step with his cane towards the library, I knew that was where Dad’s passion was and it could not be stopped. The UMKC Journal one time had a feature story about Dad’s Unconventional Wisdom. The Dean even used Dad as a model in one of the commencements to challenge the graduates to never stop discovering in life.

Dad had three children. I, the oldest, grew up in Taiwan. Chiling, the second, grew up in Shanghai, and Hans, the youngest, grew up in Switzerland. We all got to meet and spend time with Dad when we grew up. Not long before he passed away, he came to stay with me. Hans came from Switzerland to take care of him for two weeks. Chiling also flew in from New Jersey to be with him during his final days. Dad had two sons-in-law, Kai-Wen and Victor, four grandchildren, Michael, Bill, Stephen, and Andrew, with two granddaughters-in-law, Serena and Erina. He even got to see the fourth generation with three great grandsons, Jeremy, Christopher, and new born baby Josiah. From his dear brother and sisters, he had many nephews and nieces who loved him and were very special to him.

In the fall of 2009, Dad was in California for a visit. Through Pastor Ho and myself, Dad for the first time opened his heart to read the Bible, and then accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. He was baptized right away. In his testimony, he called himself a prodigal son again. During his final days with me, there was not even a single day he skipped the Bible reading. Some people may think he did all that to please his daughter. But for anyone who knows our Dad, there is no doubt that he would never compromise for anyone about the truth. Dad accumulated all manner of wisdom in his life. At the very end, he came to know the highest wisdom, that is, to know the true God. The Bible says, ‘Fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’.

Dad married Mom in Szechuan. After he came to U.S., they were separated by wars. They never got to see each other again. Now, per Dad’s will, he will be buried with Mom. Finally, they are together. More preciously, they both came to know Jesus Christ in their old age and are now reunited in heaven.

We know now Dad is in a better place. Death is not the termination of his life, but going into an eternal life as the caterpillar coming out of the shell grows to become a beautiful butterfly. Lying on the green pasture and resting besides the still water, he is with the Lord, with no more tears, illness, pains or separation. Dad had one wish: that his children and grandchildren, and all his beloved relatives and friends, would one day be reunited in heaven. May the Lord grant his wish.

Amen.

To view Mom's memorial site, please visit http://www.cmctoc.wix.com/mrs-chuang-jung-cheng.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

悼念爸爸

女儿：程琪玲

对大多数的小孩来说，‘爸爸’这二个字是他们最早学会的词汇之一。但是对我来说，却等

了將近三十年才有机会叫一声‘爸爸’。一九四七年，爸爸去美国留学的时候，我还没有出

生。第二年，在我出生后的几个月，由于中国的内战，妈妈又被迫带了姐姐去了台湾，把

我留给了祖母撫养。在和祖母相依为命的二十年中，她老人家给我讲了许多爸爸小时候的

故事。所以,我虽然从来没见过爸爸， 但对他却一点也不陌生。祖母生前一直嘱咐我长大

以后要回到爸爸的身边，继续唸书并照顾爸爸。

一九七八年，中美关系改善以后，我终于来到了美国与爸爸团聚。下了飞机后，看到爸爸

已经为我准备了二件礼物，放在我的房间里: 一架打字机及一个小计算机。爸爸对我说：

‘这些是给你唸书用的。你必须进大学，念一个学位，才能在美国生存。’爸爸又说：‘只要

你肯唸书, 我化再多的钱也是愿意的。如果你不努力，不求自食其力，我宁愿把钱全部捐

掉，也不会给你一分钱’。在爸爸的指导下，我来美国后的第二个月就进大学选修学分

了。那年我已经三十岁了。由于文化大革命，我在中国連高中都没有念完。最困难的是，

我在中学学的是俄文，对英文可谓一窍不通。开始时真是困难重重。用字典查字看书很

慢，眼看就要考试了，我连一半的书还没看完。爸爸就按照教课书一页一页地替我讲。

有一天爸爸替我讲化学，从下午一点钟一直讲到五点。讲完后，他的喉咙都哑了。就这样

在爸爸的帮助及鼓励下，我终于顺利地完成了学业。

爸爸是化学教授，暑假时经常出去旅行，我们因此去了许多地方。有一年夏天，我们从德

州开车去大峡谷玩。途中爸爸病了，他有点发烧却不肯去看医生。当时我们住在一个靠近

沙漠的小旅馆里，我只好把随车带来的西瓜拿出来喂給爸爸吃。喂到一半时，爸爸突然握

住我的手说；‘我也有一个孝顺的女儿照顾我了’。爸爸说此话的时候，眼睛里充满了泪

水。我没想到，我做的这小小的一件事会使爸爸这么感动。由于家庭的破裂，爸爸多年一

直独自生活，尝尽孤独之苦。但是爸爸也是个有感情的人，他渴望亲情和家人的照顾。从

那天起，我和爸爸越来越亲近，也更了介他。爸爸是个是非分明的人，处理事情倾向于依

法而办。但是在一些重大事情上，他最终会听从我的劝告，即凡事不但依法，也兼顾情理

的一面。

爸爸是个孝子。由于当时中美之间的敌对关系，他不能回国探亲，甚至无法与家人直接联

络，但是爸爸想尽办法通过第三国写信及寄钱給祖母，几十年如一日。他的孝心给了祖母

莫大的安慰，也使得祖母在晚年格外思念这个儿子。在我念初中的时候，中国的政治气氛

越来越浓厚，我心里很彷徨，感到前途茫茫。那年中秋的晚上，夜已深了，我看到祖母仍

然坐在凉台上，知道她老人家又在思念爸爸了。我便拿了一个小凳子坐在祖母膝前陪她。

月光下，祖母和我谈了许多常。她叫我要好好念书，以后想办法去爸爸处上大学。她握着

我的手说，‘世道是会变的！你还小，一定等得到。’祖母的话给了我很大的安慰和希望。

童年时，我最喜欢唱的一首歌，歌名叫‘小白船’。歌词原意是：

蓝蓝的天空银河里，

有只小白船

船上有棵桂花树

白兔在遊玩。

浆儿浆儿看不见

船上也没帆

飘呀飘呀飘向云天。

渡过那条银河水

走向云彩国

走过那个云彩国

再向那儿去？

在那遥远的地方

闪着金光

晨星是灯塔

照呀照得亮。

据说这是一首朝鲜儿歌。作者创作了这首歌，旨在鼓励在日本殖民主义统治下的朝鲜儿童

不要绝望。要看到在那遥远的地方，希望正闪耀着金光。 作者谱写这首歌的另一层深

意，是纪念他一位夭亡的姐妹。他把天上的一弯新月比喻成一只小船，他的姐妹乘上了这

只小船，飘到云天之外而得到永生。小时候，每当我躺在长满花藤的凉台上，仰望着满天

的星斗伴随着一轮明月，就会唱起这首歌。有时也会情不自禁地产生幻想：如果有一天我

也能乘上这艘小船，越过人间的障碍，飘向美国与爸爸团聚該有多好！听了祖母在中秋之

夜的一番话，我心里的幻想变成了希望，她老人家的嘱咐就像歌中的晨星灯塔，给我指明

了方向。

祖母在文化大革命时不幸逝世。中国在经历了这场浩劫之后，终于对外开放了。正如祖母

所说，世道变了。我来到美国和爸爸相聚了三十二年。谈起祖母，我们有永远说不完的话

题。在我来美之前，妈妈已从台湾移民来美，住在姐姐家。我来美的第三年，妈妈因病在

加州去世。临终前，她写了封信给爸爸，表达了内心难言的歉疚。爸爸接到信后，打电话

给我，说他准备去加州看望妈妈。就在爸爸准备启程的时候，妈妈却撒手西去。爸爸为此

十分难过。他曾多次对我提到，是中国震荡的政局，导致了他和妈妈的长期分离，否则他

们是不会离婚的。爸爸在去世前表示愿意与妈妈合葬。经历了多年的恩怨分离，他们终于

在身后走到了一起，令所有祝福过他们的人都惊喜万分。

爸爸是在农历二月十五日凌晨去世的。 其时想必皓月当空。父母同年，都是属兔的。这

一切的巧合使我又想起了那首意境深远，颇俱禅意的月船之歌。我多麽希望，在那茫茫

的银海里，真的有那麽一个云彩之国。爸爸乘上了月船，飘越世空，来到那极乐世界。

与久别的妈妈再次团聚，从此在一起，不再孤独！我更希望， 总有一天，我也能来到那

里，与父母弥补失去的岁月。爸爸， 那时我一定继续照顾你，再次喂你吃西瓜。

安息吧，爸爸！

附上youtube 网络地址，载有歌曲‘小白船’。

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM7wo7senUs

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Obituary by Shuang-ling Chong

Please use the following link to see the original.

http://tw.epochtimes.com/b5/10/8/5/n2986386p.htm

大紀元 台灣網 2010 年8 月4日

EpochTimes.com

大紀元首頁 > 社區新聞 > 華府

悼念一位慷慨而偉大的科學家– 程廣祿教授

作者﹕程雙玲於維州麥克林城

【簡體版】 【不顯現/顯現圖片】

【字號】大 中 小

【大紀元8月5日訊】我的叔叔是一位犧牲小我完成大我的科學家。有著崇高宏偉的理想。他的學習及刻苦精神足成為今日年青人的表率和典範。作為一個知名教授 原本生活可以相當豐足；但他自己生活十分儉僕，對人卻極為慷慨。他一生捐出無數獎學金給貧窮而優秀的學生；令他們可以專心唸書不必擔心費用。為社會造就了 許多化學與物理博士。除了對學術貢獻外，我認為獎學金的捐助是叔叔這一生最大的成就。希望這種無私的作為能讓一些現代沉迷於生活享受與濫用金錢的富人們能 有所反省；願他們也能多為公義慷慨解囊。畢竟金錢要用得其所才有生命的價值與意義。

綜其一生，有三大特點，足以流傳後世不朽。

第一：因家道中落，不肯用功，逼得遠走上海紗廠做苦工，累得營養不良幾乎大病不起。醫生說你這小子不好好唸書，跑來做工，豈不可惜。受此刺激，立刻改邪歸正，發奮苦讀，由師範生而飄洋留美，獲得博士學位。終成傑出的化學家。

第二：終身從事教育，堅守教授職務，生活儉樸清苦，所獲薪酬， 大部捐助清寒學生作獎學金，獎勵浪子回頭，平生不事積蓄。

第三：全心全力研究不怠，對分析化學，有很多獨特見解。為同輩所欽敬，享譽國際。

程 廣祿叔叔生於1915年9月14日中國江蘇揚州。他畢業於西北聯大農學院，後赴美留學入伊利諾大學研究院攻讀化學，獲碩士及博士學位。曾任職於商業溶劑公 司，康奈狄克州州立大學，西屋公司，侃爾西海斯公司， 和RCA 實驗室。 1966 年應聘於在堪薩斯城的密蘇里州州立大學化學系。在那裏度過四十多年的教書生涯。1990年退休後仍繼續發表論文，著作等身。一生捐無數獎學金給學生。不幸 於2010年3月30日病逝於加利福尼亞州，享年95歲。

以下是我在叔叔喪禮中追思的講稿：

「獻給我敬仰的叔叔 - 程廣祿教授」

我 深深認為叔叔是世界上最具獻身精神和最富熱情的科學家之一，他是一位有奉獻精神的研究人員和教育工作者，也是一位充滿創意、精力充沛、又賦予好奇心的勤奮 化學家。直到94歲高齡，他還在不斷撰寫學術論文。他對教學和研究總是懷有極大的熱情。他是電分析化學領域的世界權威，參與了多本著作的撰寫，並與同僚合 著了《有機試劑手冊》一書，與此同時，他已發表了超過200篇的學術論文。在名人榜和名人傳記一類的書中，他都佔有一席之地。

他嚐試從科 學的角度來解釋人類生活的方方面面，談起這些，他可以滔滔不絕說上一整天，絲毫不覺疲憊。他樂意與大家分享有關化學的一切，這能給他帶來獨一無二的喜悅和 興奮。他做學問的執著與熱誠更是無人能比。幾乎全年三百六十五天都在他的辦公室或實驗室工作，直到生命的盡頭。他終身不斷努力創造新的理論來解決化學難 題。還利用化學原理來調節日常飲食使他的血壓逐漸降低，最後達到幾乎不需吃藥的效果。

他得到許多成就獎。他是美國科學促進協會的成員之一，也是倫敦皇家化學學會的成員之一，同時還是國際基礎與應用化學聯合會 (IUPAC) 分析化學分部的名譽會員。

他 的生活十分簡樸，但他極其慷慨地捐獻獎學金給堪薩斯密蘇里大學化學系、物理系、 及他獲得博士學位的伊利諾大學。主要是為了能使優秀學生專心接受教育，不為經費所困。他還為堪薩斯密蘇里大學化學系和物理系的一系列傑出講座提供資金支 持。更令人驚奇的是曾經為了加速得到科研結果，叔叔在申請到研究金前，他甚至屢次不惜拿出自己私人的積蓄來資助實驗工作。

他曾捐出一生大 半積蓄，但只留下少數用為自己的生活費用。家中一切設備簡陋，平日粗茶淡飯，人們看了有時都不免心酸，但他卻處之泰然，因為他有更超越的理想與追求。他活 得是如此有骨氣，胸懷坦蕩，談吐幽默，只要有他在座必定談笑風生。在今日人們貪戀物質的風氣下，能找出像叔叔這樣過著簡樸生活的人更是鳳毛麟角了。

除了富有成效的研究成果，再沒有什麼能令他更高興的事了，他真是名符其實的科學家。他總是對我說：「人活一世，你有責任為社會作出貢獻。」

由 於普林斯頓大學距叔叔家很近，我在1964年申請該校研究院並曾獲入學許可。但後來被拒絕了, 因為他們發現我是一個女孩 (當年普大只收男生）。取其次，我進入了距叔叔家二十哩路的新澤西州州立羅特格斯大學，也拿到全額獎學金，在叔叔的感召和鼓勵下，我努力取得了羅大物理化 學專業的博士學位。在此後的三十多年裡，我一直在美國聯邦政府工作，並著重於燃料化學和橋樑防護塗層領域的研究。我對人生很有滿足感，而且非常享受自己的 職業生涯，可是如果沒有我叔叔，我想我就不會擁有今天這一切了。

我和叔叔每年都會共同參加一些學術年會，每次在一起都會相處一個禮拜，我 們聊化學，聊科研，不亦樂乎（照片是1981 年美國化學會中叔叔與我的合影）。我女兒張子瑤博士，也繼承了叔叔的化學熱愛，獲得加州大學舊金山分校的生物物理的博士學位，目前在匹茲堡大學化學系任 教。追隨著叔叔的腳步，我們家族裡很多人才能成為科學家、教授、工程師和醫生。

叔叔的生活非常充實。他的愛好很廣泛，對油畫、烹飪以及園藝 都有濃厚興趣。他還常到世界各地旅行及參加學術會議，多年前就造訪過南極科學考察站。而早在第一夫人倡導健康生活理念、號召大家自己在家種菜之前，叔叔就 懂得利用廚房廢水灌溉家裏的菜園，園子裡結滿蔬果，產量頗豐。

在過去十年中，他提出了離子選擇性電極的雙化學電容理論 (double capacitor theory)。他呼籲注意能斯特方程式（Nernst equation）的濫用，並否定pH玻璃電極裡氫離子和鈉離子的離子交換反應。在經過大量的實驗後，他提出了電極測量的三層理論 ( triple layer theory）。雖然大家並不質疑他所提供的大量可靠數據，但面對這一革命性理論，目前人們還是無法完全接受。叔叔曾經幽默地對我說，等到他的三層理論被 同行們接受的那一天，一定要記得發封電子郵件到天堂告訴他。

叔叔過世後有數不清的人懷念他，敬佩他，稱頌他，他的一生是光彩躍眼的。他的 所作所為確實值得眾人傚法，他的確是不虛此生。毫無疑問，我叔叔是所有教育工作者和科學家的榜樣。我尊重他，不僅因為他是我心愛的叔叔，更因為他是一個偉 大的化學家。他將永遠活在我心中，我會永遠記住他的面容，他的笑，他的幽默，他的熱情，和他的樂觀。

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2010-08-05 05:54:58【萬年曆】

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