Obituary for Dr. Chun Yat "Gerald" Chen
Dr. Chun Yat “Gerald” Chen
Engineering Technology, College of Engineering
West Texas A&M University
Dr. Gerald Chen passed away on September 8, 2021, in Canyon, TX, after teaching his last engineering class of the day. He is survived by his wife, Hsiao-Ping of Canyon, Texas, his brother SJ Chen of Boston, Massachusetts, and his sister Jing May of Oxford, England. Dr. Chen was the original engineer at West Texas A&M University and taught almost every student who graduated with a technology-based degree from 1979 through 2021.
He began, not as Dr. Gerald Chen, but as Chun Yat Chen, and spent his youth in Taiwan with his family. Chun Yat met Hsiao-Ping at Tai Chun in 1969. After their initial meeting, he wanted to spend his life with her. He actively pursued her and they were married January 12, 1976. Upon his death, they had been married for 45 years.
Dr. Chen received a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology education from National Taiwan Normal University in 1970. He received an M.A. in industrial education from Eastern Michigan University in 1974. He studied industrial technology, engineering design and instructional technology at Texas A&M University and received a Ph. D. in industrial education in 1979. His graduate research involved the use of aerial photos to verify contour elevations for maps. He ultimately became a teacher of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Technology.
Dr. Chen came as an Assistant Professor in Industrial Education at West Texas State University in 1979, working along with Dr. Moreland and Dr. Coleman in the Industrial Education (IE) building on the north side of campus. The IE building housed a small foundry, welding shop, machine shop and classrooms and Dr. Chen made use of them for all his courses. He focused on instrumentation, AC and DC circuit basics, and technical drawing and incorporated quality assurance, quality control and methods to improve manager skills e.g. time and motion studies and manufacturing methods into the newly developing engineering technology program.
He was active in the University at the department and college level. He was always working with other administrators across campus to make sure that the latest use of technology or modern methods were used or available to be incorporated into the curriculum of a variety of courses. His outreach to other schools and community colleges in the region was instrumental in forming partnerships in programs that resulted in the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) degrees now offered at West Texas A&M University. This type of BAAS program ensured that the knowledge and resources invested in community colleges were then recognized and built upon at the University level. Dr. Chen was a huge proponent of providing the opportunity for a bachelor’s degree for students that followed a non-traditional route to that goal.
The impact of Dr. Chen on the lives of his students, colleagues, and community will be long lasting, well-remembered and celebrated. His friends and colleagues are thankful for his ideas, teamwork, and teaching philosophy that made them better in so many ways and was foundational in building the College of Engineering that exists today.
Engineering Technology, College of Engineering
West Texas A&M University
Dr. Gerald Chen passed away on September 8, 2021, in Canyon, TX, after teaching his last engineering class of the day. He is survived by his wife, Hsiao-Ping of Canyon, Texas, his brother SJ Chen of Boston, Massachusetts, and his sister Jing May of Oxford, England. Dr. Chen was the original engineer at West Texas A&M University and taught almost every student who graduated with a technology-based degree from 1979 through 2021.
He began, not as Dr. Gerald Chen, but as Chun Yat Chen, and spent his youth in Taiwan with his family. Chun Yat met Hsiao-Ping at Tai Chun in 1969. After their initial meeting, he wanted to spend his life with her. He actively pursued her and they were married January 12, 1976. Upon his death, they had been married for 45 years.
Dr. Chen received a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology education from National Taiwan Normal University in 1970. He received an M.A. in industrial education from Eastern Michigan University in 1974. He studied industrial technology, engineering design and instructional technology at Texas A&M University and received a Ph. D. in industrial education in 1979. His graduate research involved the use of aerial photos to verify contour elevations for maps. He ultimately became a teacher of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Technology.
Dr. Chen came as an Assistant Professor in Industrial Education at West Texas State University in 1979, working along with Dr. Moreland and Dr. Coleman in the Industrial Education (IE) building on the north side of campus. The IE building housed a small foundry, welding shop, machine shop and classrooms and Dr. Chen made use of them for all his courses. He focused on instrumentation, AC and DC circuit basics, and technical drawing and incorporated quality assurance, quality control and methods to improve manager skills e.g. time and motion studies and manufacturing methods into the newly developing engineering technology program.
He was active in the University at the department and college level. He was always working with other administrators across campus to make sure that the latest use of technology or modern methods were used or available to be incorporated into the curriculum of a variety of courses. His outreach to other schools and community colleges in the region was instrumental in forming partnerships in programs that resulted in the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) degrees now offered at West Texas A&M University. This type of BAAS program ensured that the knowledge and resources invested in community colleges were then recognized and built upon at the University level. Dr. Chen was a huge proponent of providing the opportunity for a bachelor’s degree for students that followed a non-traditional route to that goal.
The impact of Dr. Chen on the lives of his students, colleagues, and community will be long lasting, well-remembered and celebrated. His friends and colleagues are thankful for his ideas, teamwork, and teaching philosophy that made them better in so many ways and was foundational in building the College of Engineering that exists today.