Shih Ming chu 朱世明

Army General

Shih Ming Chu (1902-1965, Class of 1926, Mechanical Engineering) was a native of Hunan Province. Graduating from Tsinghua Preparatory School in 1922, Chu matriculated at MIT, entering as a sophomore. Known as "S.M.," he received a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 1926, writing his thesis on "An investigation of bolt failure on account of a 'poor fit'." While a student, Chu was a member of the Mechanical Engineering Society, the Rifle Club, the Speakers' Club, the Cosmopolitan Club, the Square and Compass Club, and the Chinese Students' Club.

Following MIT, Chu attended the Norwich Military College and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Chu returned to China in 1927, where he began a long career in military and diplomatic service under the Kuomintang government, eventually rising to the rank of Lieutenant General in the Chinese Army. In 1928, Chu was married to Grace Zia Chu (Xie Wenqiu, 1899-1999), a Shanghai native and graduate of Wellesley College (Class of 1924), whom he had met during his time at MIT. The daughter of a prominent Christian family, Grace began her career as an instructor of physical education at Ginling College in Nanjing, but later went on to gain acclaim as an instructor of the Chinese culinary arts after moving back to the US with her husband. Madame Chu was the author of several books, including The Pleasures of Chinese Cooking (1962), and was hailed as the "First Lady of Chopsticks."

Chu’s early career included the following positions: Instructor at the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangdong; Chief of Operations Section for the 46th Nationalist Army during the Northern Punitive Expedition; Dean, Army Communications and Engineering School; Commander of Peace Preservation Corps of Zhejiang Province; and Chief of Department, General Staff Office. In 1937, Chu was appointed aide-de-camp to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s and also began his diplomatic career, serving as military attaché at the Chinese Embassy in the Soviet Union. Returning to China in 1939, Chu was appointed Chief of Department, Main Office of the National Military Affairs Commission, and then as director of the Department of Intelligence and Publicity, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1941, Chu was sent as a military attaché to the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC, and he served as Chiang Kai-shek’s interpreter at the Cairo Conference in November 1943. Returning to China, Chu continued to work closely with Chiang, serving as a military advisor at the Department of Military Affairs. In 1945, Chu headed the Chinese Delegation to the Allied Council for Japan at the United Nations. He returned to the United States once again in 1947, serving as chief of the Chinese Military Liaison and Technical Commission. Chu was presented with the US Legion of Merit in 1948, for "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States from February to September 1945.” In 1949, Chu was transferred to Tokyo as Head of the Chinese Military Delegation to Japan. Chu continued to live in Japan after his retirement, and he died in Tokyo in 1965.

Sources: [Who's Who in China], The China Weekly Review, 1939, MIT Chinese Students' Directory, 1931, Technique 1925, Bridge, 153-154, http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=400078, New York Times Obituary, Baidu, Ann T. Keene. "Chu, Grace Zia"; http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01915.html; American National Biography Online Feb. 2000, Harvard University Libraries VIA, Grace Zia Chu.