WORTH SUPPORTING
Martin Tang and friends increase international scholarships, fellowships
Martin Tang '70. See larger image
This past summer the Martin Y. Tang International Scholarship Challenge reached a successful conclusion, resulting in $4.39 million in endowment gifts from 12 families; $1.46 million in matching funds from Martin Tang '70; an overall 19 percent increase in scholarship support available for undergraduate international students at Cornell; and support for five graduate fellowships.
The Tang Challenge offered 1:3 matches for gifts for international financial aid starting at $187,500.
A graduate of the College of Engineering, Tang (pictured above) was elected trustee emeritus and presidential councillor in 2010, having been (at 16 years) the longest-serving international trustee on the Cornell Board of Trustees. In 2012, President David Skorton asked Tang to play a key role in helping to shape Cornell's international strategy. Tang will head a recently formed Cornell advisory group focused on internationalization.
Contributors to the Tang Challenge include oncologist and University Council member Alexander Levitan '59 and Lucy Levitan of Minneapolis; Alok '86, MBA '87, and Majini '85 Oberoi of England; Christian Bergmann '86 of England; former CEO and chair of Ford Motors (China) and current director of Diebold Inc. and Seagate Technology Mei Wei Cheng '72 of Beijing; member of the Johnson School Advisory Council Carlos Quintanilla, MBA '80, of Mexico; Cornell trustee William Perez '69 of Chicago; Cornell University Council member Carol Rattray '78 of New York; Johnny '81, M.Eng. '82, and Juliana Fung, of Toronto and Hong Kong; Steven Shindler, MBA '87, and Mary Kay Kosnik, MBA '88, of Connecticut; Felipe Garza, MBA '80, of Mexico; executive officer of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Randall Chafetz, MBA '85, of New York; and Rajeev Bhaman '86, MBA '88, of New York.
"I've made new friends," says Tang of the challenge, "and together with the old friends who have supported this cause, the thing we all have in common is a deep belief that Cornell should attract the best and brightest from around the world."
– Emily Sanders Hopkins