Scholarship Honors Radiation Center Founder Chih H. Wang

Story Posted: Tue, Sep 15, 2009

There is no other university in the western half of the United States with the combined capabilities of the OSU Radiation Center. Businesses, government agencies, and universities from around the world use the Radiation Center for testing, research, forensics, and more. Its existence is largely due to the dedication and genius of one man: Dr. C. H. Wang.

In 1946, in the midst of the Chinese civil war, a young graduate student named Chih H. Wang was sent to Oregon Agricultural College to study chemistry. Although he initially spoke very little english, he earned a PhD and went on to become a chemistry professor at the newly named Oregon State College (OSC).

Meanwhile, a growing number of departments on the OSC campus (engineering, agriculture, forestry, and food science, to name a few) were using radioisotopes in their research. Professor Wang, with a personal interest in both radiochemistry and radiobiology, developed working relationships with many of these researchers and soon recognized the need for a central nuclear science research facility at OSC.

In 1959, Dr. Wang formed a Radiation Center committee and suggested to the OSC administration that they build a 10,000 square foot building to provide laboratory space for 11 departments who were using radioactive materials in research. The cost: $300,000.

The Radiation Center committee submitted proposals to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Health to fund the new facility. The proposals were approved but required matching funds of $377,640 from the state of Oregon. This was a huge problem: The NSF funding was only good for six months but the Oregon legislature convened bi-annually and were not in session that year.

Dr. Wang did not give up. He convinced President James Jensen to join him in approaching the Oregon State Emergency Board (OSEB) to ask for the money. President Jensen agreed but said it would be a miracle if they succeeded.

The OSEB had only nine hundred thousand dollars in their reserve fund to cover all state projects for the year. When Dr. Wang and President Jensen presented their proposal, a board member asked, “How is the construction of a Radiation Center an emergency?” President Jensen replied, “Sir, have you seen the cover of the Oregonian today? The USSR exploded the largest hydrogen bomb in history yesterday. This country needs a great number of scientists and engineers specializing in nuclear science. In order to get them, we need facilities for nuclear education.” The funds were approved unanimously.

Construction began on the Radiation Center in 1964 and Dr. Wang was appointed Director.

One of Dr. Wang’s first objectives as director was to seek additional funding from the National Science Foundation to build a large research reactor. The NSF sent a team to Corvallis to visit the site and evaluate OSU’s proposal. On the team was an MIT Professor, J.W. Irvine. At the end of his visit, Dr. Irvine told OSU Professor Roman Schmidt that he had not been inclined to approve the proposal but Dr. Wang’s salesmanship changed his mind. The funding was received and the reactor completed in 1967. Governor Tom McCall attended the offical dedication.

This year, the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the nuclear engineering graduate program at OSU. A 50th Anniversary dinner for alumni and friends will be held in honor of Chih Wang on October 12th. At the dinner, Dr. Jose Reyes, Department Head, will announce the new Chih H. and Louise Wang scholarship, continuing Dr. Wang’s legacy of attracting exceptional nuclear science and engineering students to OSU.

If you are interested in contributing to the Wang scholarship fund, please contact Marnie Noble at the OSU Foundation: 541-737-9328.