Yao Tzu Li

Yao Tzu Li, 97, of Westwood, MA (formerly of Lincoln and Weston, MA) died suddenly on August 14, 2011 of an aortic aneurysm. He was an educator, inventor and an entrepreneur. Born in Beijing, China, he pursued graduate studies at MIT in Cambridge, where he earned a Masters degree in 1938 and a Doctor of Science in 1939. To help China’s cause in WWII, he returned to establish its first aircraft-manufacturing factory inside a cave. After the war, he returned to the US to marry Nancy Tung Tuan Lin and work with his mentor, Charles Stark Draper. The marriage lasted 56 years until his wife’s death in 2004. The affiliation with Draper became a 32-year career at MIT, where Dr. Li was a professor in the Aeronautics & Astronautics Department, co-founder of the MIT Manned Vehicle Lab, and founder and first Director of MIT’s Innovation Center. His work expanded the field of automatic optimizing control systems used in aircraft. Curious and creative, he held over 60 patents and founded numerous companies. His younger brother, SY Lee, was his life-long business partner, and both were members of the National Academy of Engineering. In later life he studied history, with a special focus on the Needham Puzzle.

A generous person with his time and money, he had a positive outlook on people and life. He encouraged his colleagues, students and employees; he assisted many of his relatives establish themselves in the US; and he had a talent for connecting people. He worked for many years to foster relationships between the US and China, and between China and Taiwan. He served as President of the National Association of Chinese Americans in the early 1980s. He enjoyed tennis, skiing and singing. In his later years, he gave up sports and devoted more time to singing, joining community choruses as a bass; he was singing when he died.

He was beloved by all who knew him and is survived by his children, Winifred and her husband William Oliver of Weston, MA; Karl and his wife Wei Xu of Millwood, NY; Kenneth and his wife Valerie Ng of Piedmont, CA; and Wendy and her husband Jonathan Spector of Weston; his grandchildren, Jeffries, Parker and Alisan Oliver-Li; Lindsay, Nicholas, Jason and Jasmine Li; Daniel, Michael, William and Benjamin Spector; his brother SY and his wife Lena Lee; and numerous cousins, in-laws, nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held in the MIT Chapel in Cambridge, MA, on Saturday, September 3 at 10 AM. In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to MIT. Make checks out to Yao T. Li (1939) Fellowship Fund and mail to Bonny Kellermann ‘72, Director of Memorial Gifts, MIT; 600 Memorial Drive, W98-500; Cambridge, MA 02139. Make credit card gifts at this secure website: https://giving.mit.edu/givenow/ConfirmGift.dyn?desig=3325000. Please click the button to indicate that your gift is in memory of Yao T. Li, alumnus/a.