An Wang
An Wang was a prominent Chinese-American engineer and entrepreneur, born in Shanghai in 1920. He faced significant personal tragedy during his childhood amid the turmoil of war-torn China, losing several family members to conflict. After graduating with a degree in science from Jiao Tong University, he served in the Chinese army during World War II and later immigrated to the United States in 1945. Wang earned a PhD in applied physics from Harvard University, where he made groundbreaking contributions to computer memory technology by inventing a method for magnetic core memory, which became a standard in early computing.
In 1951, he founded Wang Laboratories, which initially focused on calculators but later shifted towards manufacturing word processors. This pivot proved successful, and by the late 1980s, Wang Laboratories was a major player in the office equipment sector, boasting significant sales and a large workforce. Wang was also committed to philanthropy, establishing the Wang Institute of Graduate Studies and supporting cultural initiatives. Despite his accomplishments, the company faced challenges in the 1990s and ultimately filed for bankruptcy in 1992, two years after Wang's death from cancer in 1990. His legacy includes over thirty-five patents and a lasting impact on the computer industry, illustrating his unique blend of technical and commercial expertise.
An Wang
Engineer
- Born: February 7, 1920
- Birthplace: Shanghai, China
- Died: March 24, 1990
- Place of death: Boston, Massachusetts
Chinese-born entrepreneur, inventor, scientist
Best known for founding Wang Laboratories, An Wang originally achieved success through patents for early computer components. His inventions made the magnetic core memories in early computers possible. His company was one of the most successful during the formation of the computer, or “information,” industry.
Born: February 7, 1920; Shanghai, China
Died: March 24, 1990; Boston, Massachusetts
Full name: An Wang (Ahn Wahng)
Areas of achievement: Science and technology, business
Early Life
Wang was born in Shanghai, China, in 1920, the oldest of five children. His father practiced traditional Chinese medicine, passing on a sense of long family history and culture to his son. He was also an English teacher and began teaching Wang at home. Wang grew up in a country of feuding warlords, political corruption, and brutality. He was often separated from his family, and he lost both parents and a sister to the chaos and warfare.
In 1940, Wang graduated with a bachelor’s degree in science from Jiao Tong University in Shanghai. He spent the rest of World War II designing radio receivers and transmitters for the Chinese army.
In 1945, Wang immigrated to the United States and continued his education at Harvard University. He married Lorraine Chiu in 1949, and they eventually had three children. While Lorraine was also from Shanghai, she and Wang met in Boston in 1948. Both became naturalized US citizens in 1955. Wang believed that the attitudes and values he acquired in China greatly influenced the way he lived and did business in the United States.
Life’s Work
After receiving a PhD in applied physics in 1948 from Harvard University, Wang worked at Harvard’s Computation Laboratory, where one of the first computers had been developed. He was assigned the task of developing faster and more reliable computer memory. He invented a method by which one could retrieve information stored in small rings of highly magnetized material by passing a current around the ring. He published his work in a 1950 article co-authored by Way Dong Woo, another Shanghai native who also worked at Harvard. He also patented his work, which made magnetic core memories for computers practical. Such memories became the standard for computers until the introduction of silicon chips.
In 1951, Wang left Harvard to found Wang Laboratories and focus on practical, commercial applications. He sold his memory patents to IBM for $500,000 in 1956, and he reinvested the money in his company. Wang developed a digital logarithmic converter, which made high-speed electronic arithmetic possible at a relatively low cost. He used this as the basis for some of the earliest desktop calculators.
Despite Wang Laboratories’ large market share in the desktop calculator business in the late 1960s, Wang made a radical decision to refocus the company away from calculators. He developed and began manufacturing word processors that appealed to those unfamiliar with computers. His company eventually became the largest distributor of office word processors in the world. By 1989, they had over thirty thousand employees and $3 billion a year in sales.
In the 1980s, Wang tried to relinquish some of the personal control he had over the company and give responsibility to his son, Fred, who became president in 1986. Wang’s sense of history and family may have led him to put the family’s role in the company ahead of the health of the business. Many in the company felt that John F. Cunningham, the only non-Asian ever to have attained a powerful position in the company, would have been the better choice.
Wang focused on philanthropy. Part of his philosophy was social responsibility. He felt that organizations and businesses needed to give back to their communities. He established the Wang Institute of Graduate Studies, which offered degrees in software engineering. He also contributed to the restoration of a Boston landmark, the Metropolitan Theater, which became the Wang Center for the Performing Arts.
As Wang Laboratories began to falter in the late 1980s, Wang refocused his attention back to the company. He died of esophageal cancer on March 24, 1990. The company he had spent a lifetime building ended up filing for bankruptcy in 1992.
Significance
Wang developed some of the original basic components for early computers and word processors. He took a great risk when he left the relative security of research at Harvard University to found a new company at a time when many in the United States still did not trust people of Asian descent after World War II. He continued his technical inventiveness (eventually earning more than thirty-five patents) while he built a multi-billion-dollar company. During the early development of computers, Wang was unique in his ability to achieve both technical, engineering success and practical, commercial business success.
Further Reading
Hargrove, Jim. Dr. An Wang, Computer Pioneer. Chicago: Children’s, 1993. Print. Offers a readable account of Wang’s life and work for a young audience.
Kenney, Charles C. Riding the Runaway Horse: The Rise and Decline of Wang Laboratories. Boston: Little, Brown, 1992. Print. Focuses mainly on Wang’s business but includes personal details as well, based on interviews with Wang’s staff and associates.
Wang, An, and Eugene Linden. Lessons: An Autobiography. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1986. Print. Provides an autobiographical account of Wang‘s life, also discussing his company’s successes and failures.
Yost, Jeffrey R. The Computer Industry. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2005. Print. Provides some information on Wang’s company rather than his personal life; provides background information on the industry and context in which Wang developed his company.