Remembering Ed Tang

1928 -2025

Dr. Edward Yau-Chien Tang, Professor Emeritus of University of Minnesota, passed away peacefully on January 17, 2025, at the age of 96, after a brief fight with pneumonia following years of challenging health conditions.

Son of well-known Chinese industrialist Junyuan Tang, Edward was born in Wuxi, China in 1928 and was raised in Wuxi and Shanghai, China. He moved to the United States in 1949. A distinguished scientist and passionate professor, Edward graduated from Chiao Tung University, Shanghai, China at the age of 19. 

Tang came to the United States to study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and earned his Masters in Engineering in 1950 and a further Masters in Physics in 1955. He earned a Ph.D. in physics from UIUC in 1958.

After a postdoctoral position at Florida State, Tallahassee, Tang joined the University of Minnesota faculty in the Nuclear Theory Group in 1964. While serving as a professor of physics, he became widely respected in the field of theoretical nuclear physics for his adoption of the nuclear cluster model to study states of nuclei in a fundamental and unified manner, as described in his book: K. Wildermuth and Y.C. Tang (1977), A Unified Theory of the Nucleus, Academic Press, with results particularly useful in the field of astrophysics and fusion reactions. He published over 200 scientific articles and received the Humboldt Research Award, recognizing him as an internationally renowned scientist with lifetime research achievements. He was also a visiting professor at Kyoto University in Japan and a fellow of the American Physical Society.

Edward retired in 1997 at the age of 69. During retirement, he enjoyed delivering scientific presentations to his residential community, playing table tennis, and spending time with his grandchildren. A loving husband, father and grandfather, Edward is survived by his wife Helen, son Andrew (Pat), daughter Karen (Kevin) and three grandchildren.

To honor Edward’s wish and instructions, there was no funeral service or visitation. In lieu of condolence gifts, the family requests donations be sent to the Tang Research Award, at University of Minnesota Foundation, Memo: Memory of Ed Tang.  Please send funds to Helen Tang, who will forward it to that Fund.