Paul Yu () was a Chinese-American academic who was the President of State University of New York at Brockport (SUNY Brockport) between 1997–2004.

Early life and education

Born in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, Yu moved with his family to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1949 before resettling in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Yu went on to receive bachelor's, master's, and a doctorate in philosophy all from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. He was the younger brother of

Yu Ying-shih Yu Ying-shih (; 22 January 1930 – 1 August 2021) was a Chinese-born American historian, sinologist, and the Gordon Wu '58 Professor of Chinese Studies, Emeritus, at Princeton University. He was known for his mastery of sources for Chinese h ...

Academic career

A scholar in philosophy of language and philosophy of mind, Yu was a philosophy professor at

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

from 1969 to 1980. In the 1980-81 academic year, he was a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

lecturer at the National Taiwan University. Yu returned to Central Michigan University in 1981 as chair of the philosophy department and served in that capacity until 1987, when he moved up to associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Central Michigan. From 1989 to 1991, Yu served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Yu then became vice president of academic affairs in the 1991–92 school year, then was provost and senior vice president of academic affairs from 1992 to 1997. Yu served as external evaluator for the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

, and the National Science Council of the Republic of China. From 1988 to 1989, Yu served on the Michigan Council for the Humanities from 1988 to 1989. In 1990, Yu was visiting scholar at the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese state research institute and think tank. It is a ministry-level institution under the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The CASS is the highest academic institution and c ...

(CASS) in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, under the Visiting Scholars Exchange Program (VSEP) sponsored by the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. He also joined the Board of Directors of the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA) in 1998.

President of SUNY Brockport (1997–2004)

From July 1997 to May 3, 2004, Yu was president of

SUNY Brockport State University of New York at Brockport (also known as SUNY Brockport or Brockport State, and previously The College at Brockport) is a public university in Brockport, New York, United States. It is part of the State University of New York (S ...

. During his presidency, SUNY Brockport rose to Tier 2 within the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

system. He also established the Presidential Scholarship program which attracted several top international students to the SUNY Brockport campus.

President of San Jose State University (2004)

On April 20, 2004, the

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

Board of Trustees named Yu as President of

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

, effective July 15. On August 1, just three weeks after taking office, Yu resigned from San Jose State for health reasons. He returned with his family to New York and took a position with SUNY Brockport.

Death

Yu died on December 5, 2016, at the age of 75 after battling Parkinson's disease.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Paul 21st-century American philosophers 20th-century American philosophers 2016 deaths Presidents of campuses of the State University of New York Educators from Chongqing Central Michigan University faculty Presidents of San Jose State University Philosophers from Chongqing Chinese emigrants to the United States Butler University faculty Academic staff of the National Taiwan University Deaths from Parkinson's disease in New York (state) University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni 1941 births