Ke Chang (K. C.) Hsu was born in Tianjin, China. He graduated from Nankai School in 1919 and came to join a cohort of Nankai alumni at Grinnell College the same year. While on campus Hsu joined many activities organized by the Chinese Students’ Club, such as the celebrations of the founding of the Republic of China in 1922 and 1923, and celebration of the lunar new year in 1922 (SB 01/28/1922). 

At Grinnell Hsu was particularly known for his culinary skills. On November 17 and 18, 1922, when the Chinese Students’ Club on campus organized a big dinner at the local Congregational church to raise funds for Grinnell-in-China, Xu chaired the committee—which included C.C. Ma, T. H. Cheng, C. Chang, and K. Y. Lu (SB 11/15/1922)—that was responsible for the menu; he also cooked for the event. Apparently, he had previously entertained fellow Grinnell students, faculty, and townsfolk, wowing them with his cooking (GH 11/10/1922). What did they serve at the Congregational church? The main dish was chow mein, or fried noodles mixed with bits of vegetables and meat slices; other, more “fancy” items were reportedly ordered from Chicago. The dinner turned out to be a great success. One local newspaper enthused over the taste and the size of the crowd, reporting that over 250 people attended and 50 more had to be turned away when the food ran out (GH 11/21/1922). Another newspaper praised the food as more authentic than could be found in Des Moines, Chicago, or New York City (GR 11/13/1922). One reporter forecast that Grinnell husbands would henceforth ask their wives to purchase a Chinese cookbook to try out at home (GH 11/21/1922). The dinner raised a stunning $144 total (GH 12/5/1922), worth almost $2,800 in today’s purchasing power.  

Hsu graduated from Grinnell in 1923 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics and reportedly later earned a J.D. from the University of Chicago. Alongside other Chinese students, including Grinnell alum C. I. Tseng, Hsu hosted Zhang Boling in Chicago in May 1929, when Zhang visited the U.S. again to raise funds for Nankai. Hsu also accompanied Zhang to Britain and other European countries in May and June 1929. By December 1930 Hsu was already working for the Foreign Ministry of the Nationalist government. We do not have other news on him afterwards