Endowed chair keeps spark of wisdom lit

In her remarks at Columbia University on Tuesday, Vice-Premier Liu Yandong noted a bit of history.

At the university's department of East Asian Studies, there is a teaching chair for special studies in Chinese culture and Han teachings called the Dean Lung Professorship. It was established and funded by Horace Walpole Carpentier in 1901 to commemorate Dean Lung, his illiterate but noble Chinese servant.

Carpentier (1824-1918) was the first mayor of Oakland, California. In 1888, he returned to his hometown of New York City and was elected to the board of trustees of Columbia University.