Eugene Y. Huang

He was born in Changsha, China, in 1917. He was the son of historian Huang Shan and his wife Zhao Yiyun.

As a child, he was raised in a traditional home, and given a Chinese classical education, but was soon drawn as a young student to Western science and technology.

During WWII, he worked in the Chinese National Highway Administration, assigned to a team in southwest China that designed and built roads and bridges in support of the war effort against the Japanese.

He came to the United States for further education in 1948. In 1950, he began to obtain an M.S. in engineering at the University of Utah. In 1954, he was awarded a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Michigan. Eugene began teaching at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where he met and married his wife, Helen.

In 1963, he moved with his young family to Houghton. He was a professor of civil engineering at Michigan Technological University, and later a dean of the Graduate School. He retired in 1984.

Eugene and Helen were committed supporters of the arts at Houghton High School and Michigan Tech. His family worshipped at Trinity Episcopal Church.

After Eugene’s retirement the couple enjoyed visits to Europe and Asia. In 2009, he and Helen left their beloved Copper Country and relocated to Henderson, Nevada, where dear friends and a warm climate gave them a new lease on life. In 2018, they moved to Pennsylvania to be closer to family. He was a firm believer in lifelong education, and encouraged his children in all of their studies, research, and professional pursuits.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Helen.

He leaves behind six children, Martha (Andrew) Higgins, Pearl (J. Peter) Hobbs, William, Mary (Jim) Toga, Priscilla (Jonathan) Singer, and Stephen (Jeannie) Chu and 10 grandchildren