William Xiaogang Leng was born on Nov 21, 1953, to his mother Mi Huishu and father Leng Chengzhi. He was born in the city of Zhengzhou, Henan, in central China. He was the second of four children in his family. Xiaogang and his siblings grew up during a difficult period of Chinese history, surviving political conflict, famine, and poverty. Despite all this, his family was extremely close-knit, and all the children grew up to become exceptional individuals.
As a child, Xiaogang was a good student and dutiful son. His mother Huishu recalls him learning to make furniture simply by watching carpenters at work. He proceeded to make a wooden chest that served his family well when he was only 11 years old. During those difficult years, he did everything he could to take care of his siblings and their family.
In 1969, Xiaogang graduated from middle school. In 1970, he was “sent down” to the outskirts of Zhengzhou during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The purpose of sending down the middle and high school students was to expose them to manual labor and to live off the land in order to make them better citizens. Xiaogang worked for a total of seven years at the self-sustaining farm run by middle and high school students. During that time, he did any difficult task that arose without complaint. He often volunteered himself to face the hardest work and took other people’s place when they needed to rest.
Xiaogang had a natural gift with mechanics. Whenever electronics or machinery broke down, he taught himself to fix them. He dedicated a great deal of time to understanding agriculture, devising farming methods for the highest yield in crops. He was well respected by everyone. He was elected to be the leader of his group of student workers, a position of the highest attainment known as “Lian Zhang.” He was also one of four committee members of the executive board of the farm, known as the “Tuan Zhi Bu.” His ideas for improving the farm were met with great appreciation. He was then chosen to represent the city of Zhengzhou’s youth at the youth convention of Henan province. On numerous occasions, his hard work, intelligence, and leadership were recognized with awards from the farm’s working youth.
Xiaogang also showed remarkable promise in scholarship. After long days of work, as others went home to rest, he persisted in studying. He never had the opportunity to attend high school. However, he scraped together what little resources he could and taught himself math and English. He did countless practice problems until his fingers became callused from holding the pencil so intently.
When Xiaogang was 19 years old, he met a wonderful young lady who also worked at the farm. Her name was Zhenxia, which means the “red clouds of dawn.” The first character of Xiaogang’s name also has the meaning of “dawn.” The two became friends through swimming at the lake. After a few years, Xiaogang asked Zhenxia to become his sweetheart.
Next, in 1977, Xiaogang excelled in his college entrance exams and was accepted to university – even though he had not attended a day of high school. During university, he awoke at 4 am each morning, absorbing knowledge with great urgency to make up for the years he had lost. He studied materials science and graduated at the very top of his class in 1981.
On the day of the Chinese New Year in 1982, Xiaogang and Zhenxia married with great joy. They had to delay marriage for several years while he was in university due to the Chinese laws of that time. Later that year, they had their first and only child - a girl named Qian.
Xiaogang had performed so wonderfully at his college graduation exams that he was chosen for admission to the Luoyang Institute of Technology. There he earned a MA in materials engineering in 1986. Following this, he began work at the Henan Province Technical Institute doing research.
In 1988, he fulfilled his dream of coming to the United States. The Chinese laws of that time stipulated that citizens could leave the country only for the purpose of education. Xiaogang was granted admission to the graduate school of engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He arrived to the US in the fall of 1988. He earned a second MA in mechanical engineering in 1990. He was very close to completing his PhD on the subject when he received a job offer. The only requirement he had left was to defend his thesis. He made a great sacrifice for his family by choosing to leave his studies and take the job in order to secure a green card. This way, he and his family would never have to fear being asked to leave the US.
In 1991, he started work at TRW in Mesa, AZ as a mechanical engineer. He did a superb job on projects and was usually rated as “above expectations” or “outstanding.” He invented and patented an ignition cup used to house air bags in cars. He worked for TRW for eight years.
He eventually began to tire of the repetitive work he did. He wanted to pursue a career that offered more diversity and creativity. In 2001, he earned a nationally recognized certificate in software programming, which allowed him to switch gears from mechanical to software engineering. He enjoyed his new work immensely and continued writing programs into the evenings and weekends because he found the process so fascinating.
Xiaogang relocated to Santa Clarita, CA in 2009 with Zhenxia to work at Deluxe Digial Studios. There he worked with Ruopeng Wang and relished the programming challenges he faced on a daily basis. In 2010, he was proud to attend the graduation of his daughter Qian from medical school. In the past 2 years, he began to realize his dream of traveling around the world. He toured Boston, Portland, Hawaii, Alaska, and Vancouver, BC with his family. His next plan was to visit China in April.
Xiaogang was a remarkable human being. From his early childhood days, he showed us his caring nature by taking in a wounded stray dog during a time of famine. He revealed his intelligence by excelling in school, his handiness by crafting furniture for his home. In his adolescence, he proved his integrity by remaining a loyal and honest person amidst the turmoil of political unrest. His perseverance in the face of adversity was clear from the immense hours he dedicated to his studies to overcome a disadvantaged background. His belief in his dreams is what led him through the long process of reaching the US. His ingenuity allowed him to seamlessly change fields from mechanical to software engineering, giving him the chance to do work that was hugely satisfying.
Xiaogang’s generosity and kindness were evident throughout his life. He supported his sister during difficult times, he helped to raise his niece, and he provided unwavering support to his aging parents. What Xiaogang showed us most of all was love – an incredible, steadfast love for family, friends, and neighbors. This was his guide in every step of his life. His love as a son, as a brother, as a husband, as a father, and as a friend will ensure that his legacy lives on forever among those whose lives he touched.
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