Wen Chao Chen came to Grinnell College in 1945 and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Grinnell in 1947. While on campus he joined a group of students to speak at a series at the local Congregational church (SB 02/21/1947). After graduation he was invited back to campus to speak at conferences as well, such as one on “Aims and Achievements of the United Nation’s Specialized Agencies” held in April 1956 (SB 04/06/1956). 

Chen received a master’s degree in public administration in 1949 and a Ph.D. in political science in 1951, both from the University of St. Louis. Starting in 1951 and until his retirement in 1986, he worked at Kalamazoo College. He first taught in their political science department and later served as head librarian and director of academic services, among others. While teaching at Kalamazoo, he earned a master’s degree in library science from the University of Chicago. He also was awarded honorary degrees from Nazareth College, Western Michigan University, and Kalamazoo College. 

Chen’s life before Grinnell testified to the tumults of early twentieth-century China. According to his obituary, Wen Chao Chen, one of seven children, was born October 14, 1919, in Chen Village, Fenxi County, Shanxi province, China. After several years in small village elementary schools, he attended a boarding school and later an American-administered Christian missionary training center. Before he could complete high school, however, the Japanese army invaded China, and in 1937 Chen’s family was forced to flee. For several years, he worked a series of jobs as a tax collector, medic, and newspaper proofreader, in addition to taking some college courses. By 1943, Chen was a lieutenant in the Chinese Army assigned to translation duties with United States Army forces in China. Toward the end of World War II, he was among 100 Chinese translators sent to the U.S. for further training and thus arrived at Grinnell College, though we do not know of any prior connections he had with Grinnell. 

Chen became a naturalized United States citizen in 1983, almost forty years after his first arrival in the U.S., and twenty-five years after he applied for naturalization through a special provision of the Refugee Relief Acts. He passed away in Kalamazoo in 2012, at the age of 92, and was remembered by many for his devotion to the students and service to the community.