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IUB Archives

China Remixed: Ting Su, Doctor of Education, 1940

As part of China Remixed, a campus-wide initiative to celebrate Chinese culture, the Indiana University Archives is celebrating the long history of Chinese students at IU with a series of blog posts. This is the last post in this series. 

In 1937, Ting Su came to IU to pursue a doctoral degree in Education. He had previously earned a Bachelor’s in Education from Peiping National Normal University in China and came to the United States to study at Stanford University and Columbia University Teacher’s College in pursuit of a master’s in Education.

While at IU, Su was active in the Cosmopolitan Club and served as an assistant instructor. After submitting his dissertation titled A functional program of organization and administration for the public schools of Suiyuan Province, China,  he graduated with his Doctorate of Education in 1940. He spent the year following his graduation traveling the state of Indiana giving lectures on Chinese affairs. In July 1941, Su returned to China to serve as a professor of Education in the Teachers’ College of Sun Yat-sen University at

April 5, 1951, The Terre Haute Tribune: “China is the vanguard against Communist world aggression.”

Ping-shek. Su gave 15 speeches to schools and clubs in Hong Kong about the American way of life.

He returned to IU in 1950 and served as a Research Assistant in Area Studies and part-time instructor in Education until June 1951. During this period, Su served as one of an eight-member investigation mission of the Political Consultive Conference established at the suggestion of General George Marshall to investigate the military disputes between the US government and the Communists.

Upon leaving IU, Su taught Chinese-Mandarin Language along with advanced courses in Chinese-Mandarin History, Geography, Engineering Technology, and Military Terminology at the Army Language School at Monterey, California. In this role, he taught Mandarin to Army and Air Force personnel. In 1956, the rise of communism in China led to increased scrutiny of Chinese citizens living in the United States, particularly on the West Coast.

Letter to Ting Su from Herman B Wells: “Several of these congressmen are good and loyal personal friends of mine and I am sure they will leave no stone unturned in your case.”

When Su was threatened with deportation, he wrote to Herman B Wells for support of Bill HR11228, a bill introduced by Congressman Teague of California to prevent deportation of Dr. Su and his wife, Grace Yu Ying Ling. At that time, he lived in Seaside, California with his wife and two children. President Wells wrote letters to six Indiana congressional representatives to resolve the deportation threat.

Letter from Indiana Representative Earl Wilson to Herman B Wells supporting a bill to prevent the deportation of Dr. Ting Su and his wife, Grace Yu Ying.

Based on correspondence past 1956, it seems that alumnus Dr. Ting Su and his family avoided wrongful deportation and remained in California.

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