Seung P. Li *60

Seung P. Li, retired professor of engineering at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, died March 7, 2018. He was 86.

Li graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1954, and earned a master’s degree in civil engineering from Princeton in 1960 and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1966. He was then a professor in Hong Kong at Chung Chi College.

Throughout 1967, large-scale riots broke out in the then-British colony. Seeking “a better life, a more stable life in the United States,” Li secured a position at Virginia’s Sweet Briar College in 1968. Li left Hong Kong, but in transit he learned that funding for the position evaporated and he and his young family stopped in California.

At this point, California State Polytechnic was expanding and looking for professors. Li joined Cal Poly in the fall of 1968. He retired in 2002. He taught semiconductor theory and researched semiconductors at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was also director of graduate studies for the Cal Poly College of Engineering. One of his textbooks is still part of the curriculum.

Li is survived by his wife of 60 years, Viva; three sons; and three grandchildren.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.