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Chee Kwon and Sau Chun Wong Chun

December 18, 2015
  • Lives Well-Lived
Photo caption: Philanthropic centenarian Sau Chun and her scholarship recipients

In 2012 Yen Chun and her parents Chee Kwon (BA'34) and Sau Chun Wong (BEd'38, PD'39) established the Chee Kwon and Sau Chun Wong Chun Endowed Scholarship. Their goal was to support McKinley High School graduates as they embark on an undergraduate degree at UH Mānoa. Both Chee Kwon and Sau Chun Wong Chun were graduates of McKinley High and the University of Hawai‘i and with this gift they are giving back to others who are following in their footsteps.  To date, this scholarship has supported 9 students with big dreams.

Students shared their stories and spoke of their dreams in these moving thank you notes.

Great Life

Student Stories

A Man of the Times

Chee Kwon Chun was born in Kailua, Hawai‘i, the ninth child of a family of ten. In 1934, after graduating from the University of Hawai‘i, Chee Kwon's brother-in-law Dr. Sun Fo, son of Sun Yat-sen, took him to China. Here, Chee Kwon served as Sun Fo's English Secretary at the Legislative Yuan-the highest law-making body in the Nanking government.

During the Sino-Japanese war, Chee Kwon spent nine months in Yan'an, where the Communist Headquarters were located. During this time, he met Communist leaders including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Generals Zhu De and Wang Zhen. Subsequently, Chee Kwon served as the Director of the International Industrial Cooperatives (INDUSCO) covering seven southeast provinces and four war zones from 1940 to 1947.

Bridging East and West

In 1950, Chee Kwon married Sau Chun Wong Chun, a McKinley High School teacher in Honolulu. Eight days after their marriage, the Chuns moved to Beijing where their two children Ping and Yen were born. Chee Kwon worked for the Foreign Press Publishing House and helped distribute Chinese publications worldwide while Sau Chun worked as a journalist. In 1957 Chee Kwon assisted China in setting up the first Guangzhou Trade Fair.

After the Chun family moved to Hong Kong in 1961, Chee Kwon became the only American citizen working as a high-ranking banker in a Chinese bank. In 1972, the Chuns started their consulting business to promote US-China trade and represented numerous Fortune 500 corporations in China.

In 1972, then Governor Jack Burns called on the Chuns to deliver a goodwill letter and gifts to Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. This gesture was followed up with a Hawai‘i delegation to the Canton Trade Fair.

The Chuns were instrumental in the establishment of sister state relations between Hawai‘i and Guangdong, and sister island relations between O'ahu and Hainan. They promoted understanding and friendship between the peoples of the US and China. The Chuns and their daughter Yen were founders of the Soong Ching Ling (Mdm. Sun Yat-sen) Foundation in the USA.

The Chuns' work and accomplishments have been recognized by both Chinese and American leaders. In 1994, Chee Kwon received the Soong Ching Ling Camphor Tree Award presented to individuals with outstanding contributions to improving maternity care and children's education and health in China. In 2010 Chee Kwon and Sau Chun received the life-time Achievement Award by the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Hawaii Foundation and were honored by the Honolulu City Council. Chee Kwon passed away on December 27, 2010, three months short of his 100th birthday.

Tragedy Spurs Generosity

The Chuns' only son, Ping Chun, was an outstanding PhD candidate in electrical engineering and about to start his career at Hewlett Packard in California when at age 26, he died tragically in a plane crash in Chicago. After going through ten years of painful legal proceedings, the Chun family received compensation from American Airlines and McDonald Douglas. The Chuns donated a major portion of the amount for scholarships at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago where Ping attended college and graduate school, and the University of Hawai‘i. They also funded school projects in Shanghai and Hebei province through the Soong Ching Ling Foundation in China.

Legacy Lives On

The Chuns' daughter Yen Chun is one of the founding members of the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Hawaii Foundation and trustee of China Soong Ching Ling Foundation in Beijing and Shanghai. Through their scholarship at UH, and her many global efforts, the family’s legacy of bridging East and West, and providing opportunities for others to fulfill their dreams will live on.


If you would like to learn how you can support UH students and programs like this, please contact us at 808 376-7800 or send us a message.