William Wu, M.D., a long-time friend of UMKC and professor emeritus at the School of Medicine died June 18, 2013. Wu was a compassionate doctor who lived an extraordinary life.
In his autobiography, “Monsoon Season,” published in 1996, Wu recounts his early childhood in a Chinese peasant village in Toisan, his later childhood in the Chinatown of Philadelphia, and his experiences as a surgeon with the 22nd Field Hospital of the U.S. Army. He was awarded a Bronze Star during the war for treating wounded soldiers. He came to Kansas City in 1950 and became the first nonwhite doctor to break the color line in the local medical society.
Knowing the struggles Chinese students face and hoping to advance friendship and understanding between the Chinese and Americans, Wu created the William Q. Wu Merit Scholarship Fund in 1990. The fund assists Chinese students studying at UMKC and UMKC students studying in China. UMKC International Academic Programs manages the scholarship fund.
Donations in Dr. Wu’s honor may be made to the William Q. Wu Merit Scholarship Fund c/o UMKC Foundation, 202 Administrative Center, 5100 Rockhill Rd., Kansas City, Mo., 64110. The scholarship was created in 1990 to promote U.S.-China student exchanges and intercultural relations. Services will be at 2 p.m. on the deceased’s birthday, Nov. 11, 2013, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 6401 Wornall Terr., Kansas City, Mo., 64113.
