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648:, which was China's leading steel center, more than 600 women engineers, designers and technicians—all post-1949 graduates—were working in metallurgical, steel-rolling, power-generating, machine-building, and mining departments. Substantial numbers of women engineers and technicians also worked in the railroad system. Women civil and mechanical engineers served in railroad construction departments as well as rolling stock plants.
558:, a supplement to the exhibition, has an article on her saying that she "was a pioneer among women, not only in China, but in the US as well." Chowdhury (2022) noted that women studying science and engineering had become commonplace in China and the lack of female role models may no longer be an issue, "the story of remains relevant as an example of how it all began."
540:
In 2022, Fahmida
Chowdhury said that during a time which lacked female role models, family support may have been crucial for many of the earliest women's success in engineering, including that of Lee. Despite possibly not having a role model, a supportive family along with academic talents gave her
505:
said that she "made a decided hit with" the female students at MIT. They helped improve Lee's knowledge of the
English language. She reportedly studied at home and did the housework for Kuan. Kuan was apparently a devoted husband; he walked her to and from class daily, holding her bag. Lee was said
496:
said that Lee was dedicated to her studies. She had "all the appearance of a hard and industrious worker" and was "very ambitious to obtain her degree". She paid "strict attention" in class, recording "nearly everything the instructors sa" in her notebook and that she always completed homework on
485:
said that "he electrical engineering course she is taking is regarded as the hardest course at the institute by all the undergraduates." It reported that the male students at MIT noted that she was "registered in a course that is harder ... than 99 percent of coeds ever think of taking." She
444:
whose story published a photo of her on
October 20, 1925. It declared her as MIT's "most interesting student" that year, saying: "Dressed in her quaint and Oriental costume, Mrs Tung makes an unusual sight in the corridors of the institute." Other newspapers across the US reported on the story as
549:
Lee was the only known
Chinese woman who studied at MIT from 1877 to 1931. She was one of the 25 women who graduated in 1929. She was one of the first women to earn a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering at MIT. Her story was included as part of an exhibition commemorating the 140th
418:
and sailed from
Shanghai to Seattle. Soon after they arrived, that same year, Lee enrolled at MIT in electrical engineering. Lee and Kuan both graduated from MIT with Bachelors of Science in electrical engineering in 1929 and 1927 respectively. She reportedly lived with Kuan at 21 Lee St. in
412:(MIT). During his study, he decided he wanted Lee to study at MIT as well. Kuan returned to China with this in mind. Soon after Lee and Kuan had their wedding and honeymoon, in September, they moved to the US. They boarded the
533:, she and her family fled to Taiwan, where she earned a government position. She and her family then returned to the US. By 1978, she and Kuan lived in Chicago. A columbarium plaque for her is placed next to that of Kuan at
528:
Little is known about Lee's career after graduating from MIT. Lee returned to China, where she became an engineer and taught at university. She raised three daughters and a son with Kuan in China. After the outbreak of the
500:
In
September 1925, soon after enrolling at MIT, Lee was elected as the chairman of the social committee in the MIT Chinese Students' Club. Lee was the first and, at the time, the only woman in the club.
1323:
349:. She was noted for being a Chinese female student and for majoring in electrical engineering, which the undergraduate students at the time said was the most difficult major according to
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458:
published a piece about her. It symbolized Lee's attendance as progress for women's rights in China, saying: "At least there is one
Chinese who believes that woman [
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61:
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353:. She was one of the 25 women who graduated from MIT in 1929 and one of the first women to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering at MIT.
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By the mid-1900s, two decades after Lee's graduation from MIT, China had hundreds of women engineers. Chowdhury (2022) cited Chu-yuan Cheng, who said:
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said that she was "perhaps the first
Chinese girl student studying engineering in this country that we know of." In February 1926,
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Lee was also noted for studying electrical engineering at MIT, which was considered to be particularly challenging at the time.
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said that "certainly it is epoch-making that she should choose 'the toughest course' in the long noted 'tough' institution."
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family. She earned a
Bachelor of Science from the National Technical School of China. By 1925, she lived in Beijing.
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327:; May 3, 1904 – 1985) was a Chinese engineer and teacher known for being the first Chinese woman to attend the
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1322:. Cambridge Mass., U.S.A.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chinese Students Directory. January 1931.
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331:(MIT). Her attendance starting in 1925 was reported by numerous media outlets. It was reported by
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1061:. Vol. XXVIII, no. 4. Concord, N.H.: The Rumford Press. February 1926. p. 193
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Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Chinese Students Directory for the Past Fifty Years
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anniversary in 2017 of the enrollment of the first Chinese student at MIT in 1877, called
8:
554:. It was shown at MIT's Maihaugen Gallery from February 2017 to March 2018. The website
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This is presumed based on the fact that a columbarium plaque for her was installed at
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Being the first Chinese woman to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
26:
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464:] should have a place outside the home as well as in." That same month,
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Lee's attendance at MIT was reported by numerous media outlets including by
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The first woman was Helen Williams Hardy Blackwell, who graduated in 1924.
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1248:
The Women of M.I.T., 1871 to 1941: Who They Were, What They Achieved
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594:. However, the plaque shows her birth date as 1906 instead of 1904.
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1037:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chinese Students Directory
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chinese Students Directory
607:, which is located in Chicago, Illinois, where she lived by 1978.
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and noted that she was "the first Chinese Co-ed ever to enter ".
1280:"Without Role Models: A Few Pioneering Women Engineers in Asia"
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to be particularly interested in electrical communications.
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Lee was noted for being a Chinese female student. In 1925,
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This is the death date found on her columbarium plaque at
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and other newspapers across the United States, as well as
460:
408:
In 1925, Kuan was studying electrical engineering at the
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976:"Chinese Wife at Technology Strives for Hardest Degree"
1089:. Vol. XXI, no. 2. December 1925. p. 77
1017:. Vol. XXI, no. 2. December 1925. p. 83
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reported as "one of the hardest subjects taught at ."
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913:"This Chinese Wife Smashes Many Ancient Precedents"
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982:. Vol. CVIII, no. 112. October 20, 1925
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470:of MIT reran the photo of Lee first published in
375:Li Fu Lee was born on May 3, 1904, in Changdong,
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882:Celebrating 125 Years of Women at MIT, 1873–1998
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919:. Vol. 108, no. 2. February 1926
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537:. Her plaque says that she died in 1985.
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1397:20th-century Chinese women scientists
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410:Massachusetts Institute of Technology
329:Massachusetts Institute of Technology
128:Massachusetts Institute of Technology
68:Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1362:20th-century Chinese women educators
1352:20th-century Chinese women engineers
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120:National Technical School of China (
1144:from the original on April 23, 2023
726:from the original on April 23, 2023
703:
691:from the original on April 23, 2023
13:
1329:from the original on March 8, 2023
1222:from the original on March 9, 2023
1189:from the original on March 8, 2023
843:from the original on March 8, 2023
716:"Mrs. Lucy (Lung-Shien) Kuan Wang"
365:Lee and Kuan before going to MIT,
16:Chinese woman engineer and teacher
14:
1418:
1265:from the original on May 30, 2022
70:'s radio experiment station, 1925
1245:Bever, Marilynn A. (June 1976).
1212:"China Comes to Tech: 1877–1931"
108:Chicago, Illinois, United States
1124:
870:
635:
486:took classes in physics, which
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1407:20th-century Chinese educators
1357:20th-century Chinese engineers
1278:Chowdhury, Fahmida N. (2022).
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722:. August 16, 1978. p. 4.
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552:China Comes to Tech: 1877–1931
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1087:The Chinese Students' Monthly
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1402:20th-century women engineers
521:Lee's columbarium plaque at
401:), who was from a prominent
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105:1985 (aged 80–81)
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10:
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1382:Chinese Civil War refugees
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1292:10.1177/00027642221078508
628:Kuan was born in 1902 in
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201:Traditional Chinese
917:Popular Science Monthly
455:Popular Science Monthly
383:and married Kuan Tung (
340:Popular Science Monthly
215:Simplified Chinese
683:(Columbarium plaque).
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1059:The Technology Review
878:"The 1920s and 1930s"
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467:The Technology Review
430:The report on Lee in
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346:The Technology Review
1377:Educators from Hebei
980:Boston Evening Globe
1254:(Bachelor thesis).
1183:China Comes to MIT
888:on October 8, 2019
837:China Comes to MIT
720:The Ithaca Journal
685:Graceland Cemetery
605:Graceland Cemetery
592:Graceland Cemetery
556:China Comes to MIT
535:Graceland Cemetery
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523:Graceland Cemetery
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415:President McKinley
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1140:. April 1, 2009.
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238:Standard Mandarin
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1055:"The Past Month"
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1331:. Retrieved
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984:. Retrieved
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886:the original
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680:Lai Fuk Kuan
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245:Hanyu Pinyin
195:Chinese name
30:
23:Chinese name
18:
1372:1904 births
1239:Works cited
1165:, p. 4
1121:, p. 5
381:Han Chinese
370: 1925
286:Lei Lai-fat
168:Kuan Tung (
142:Occupations
95:Qing Empire
89:Changdong,
86:May 3, 1904
66:Lee at the
27:family name
1346:Categories
1084:"M. I. T."
865:Bever 1976
658:References
541:strength.
379:. She was
343:and MIT's
259:Wade–Giles
82:1904-05-03
1305:March 10,
1300:247234285
1148:April 23,
1093:March 11,
1021:March 11,
730:April 23,
695:April 23,
568:Li Minhua
421:Cambridge
398:Guān Dōng
357:Biography
307:Li Fu Lee
45:Li Fu Lee
1333:March 8,
1324:Archived
1269:March 8,
1260:Archived
1226:March 9,
1220:Archived
1193:March 9,
1187:Archived
1142:Archived
1065:March 8,
986:March 8,
923:March 8,
892:March 9,
847:March 8,
841:Archived
724:Archived
689:Archived
687:. 1985.
562:See also
280:Jyutping
265:Li Li-fu
179:Children
147:Engineer
21:In this
1179:"About"
385:Chinese
324:Lǐ Lìfú
311:Chinese
251:Lǐ Lìfú
150:teacher
1298:
646:Anshan
545:Legacy
497:time.
445:well.
403:Manchu
395::
393:pinyin
387::
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