Building a Strong Bond
Parents Hui Chen (MCS 1996) and Yan Hu inspire and encourage others to become supporters
By Kelly Rembold
ACS Board member Hui Chen (MCS 1996) and his wife, Yan Hu, have a deep connection to Carnegie Mellon. They're the proud parents of a Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences student. They've funded two ACS Legacy Scholarships. And, in November 2022, they helped to inspire the Greater China and Chinese Diaspora Parent Networks to participate in Giving CMU Day through a special challenge.
For Hui, the inspiration to give back comes from his experiences as a student studying algorithms, combinatorics and optimization.
“I attended Carnegie Mellon on a full scholarship from the university many years ago, and I understand the impact it has had on my career,” Hui says. “So, giving back is a natural thing to do.”
Hui and Yan established an ACS Legacy Scholarship in 2020 and were inspired to fund a second scholarship after Hui joined the ACS board and was connected with two ACS mentees.
"I had the chance to talk to my ACS mentees and was really impressed by their display of not only academic excellence, but also leadership, humanity and commitment to help the school community," Hui says. "I am happy to do my small part to keep this tradition of excellence growing."
In 2022, Hui and Yan also made an impact on Giving CMU Day. They heard about initiating a challenge fund for the day through a CMU parents and alumni social media group and responded immediately with a gift toward it. They and other challenge leaders then helped spread the word and engaged Chinese and Chinese diaspora parent donors to make a gift to areas related to these communities on Giving CMU Day.
"We believe in leading by example, and we are very happy to contact other parents and alumni," Hui says.
Two challenges were established with the fund the group of supporters created: If 200 parents made a gift, a $28,000 challenge gift from a group of parent donors would be unlocked. When the parent donor number reached 300, an additional $7,500 challenge gift would be unlocked. Both challenges were met, impacting the CMU Chinese and Chinese diaspora communities and raising awareness of the Immersive Cultural Innovation Fund, Greater China Alumni Scholarship Fund and Carnegie Mellon Endowed Sustainability Innovation Fund.
Hui and Yan hope their efforts will continue to inspire and encourage other parents to become supporters.
“Giving back to Carnegie Mellon helps to build a stronger bond among our community with a shared sense of belonging and common objective,” Hui says.
