// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Oscar Tang say to his award? You're a reel prize.
Oscar Liu-Chien Tang | |
|---|---|
| 唐騮千 | |
Tang in 2013 | |
| Born | 1938 (age 87–88) |
| Citizenship | China, United States |
| Education | Yale University (BS) Harvard University (MBA) |
| Occupations | Businessman, investor, philanthropist |
| Title | Co-founded Reich & Tang |
| Spouses | |
| Father | Tang Ping-yuan |
Oscar Liu-Chien Tang (Chinese: 唐騮千; pinyin: Táng Liúqiān; born 1938) is a Chinese-born American businessman, financier,[1] investor, and philanthropist. He is best known for being the co-founder of Reich & Tang, an asset management firm. Tang was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005. Prior to this, he was appointed to the New York State Council on the Arts from 2000 to 2004 and the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities from 1990 to 1993.[2]
Early life and education
[edit]Tang was born in Shanghai, China, and his family fled from the country when the Communist revolution took over in 1949. Tang attended Rectory School (’53)[3] and Phillips Academy in Andover (’56).[4] His future wife, Frances Young, attended Andover's sister school, Abbot Academy (’57),[5] and she went on to Skidmore College (’61).[6][7] Tang's lifelong dedication to Andover as the largest donor in the school's history and a champion for education was profiled in a 2012 documentary "An Andover Life".[8]
Tang was educated at Yale University, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree. Tang then received an M.B.A degree from Harvard Business School in 1962.[9]
Business career
[edit]Tang began his career at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ). He became head of research.
In 1970, Tang co-founded Reich & Tang, an investment management firm, with Joseph Reich, another former head of research at DLJ. Originally covering equity accounts, Reich & Tang entered the money market mutual fund space in 1974 with the creation of the Daily Income Fund. Tang served as president and CEO for over 20 years.[10] The firm merged with The New England Investment Companies in 1993.[11]
Oscar Tang purchased Kampgrounds of America after the 1970s energy crisis battered the fortunes of travel-related companies, calling it "a very attractively priced asset."[12] KOA is now owned by both Tang and his wife Agnes Hsu-Tang.[13]
Family and personal life
[edit]Tang's maternal grandfather was Wen Bingzhong (Chinese: 温秉忠; 1862–1938), one of the 120 young boys sent by the late Qing imperial court to study in America during the Chinese Education Mission. Tang's grandfather was the first Chinese person to be documented in the Northampton, MA census in 1880. After his return to China, Wen later served as a high-level foreign service official.[14]
Tang's father was Tang Ping-yuan, a Boxer indemnity scholarship student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who became one of the early civic and business leaders of post-1949 Hong Kong; he was also a leading philanthropist in education. He was widely respected for his business success and as a civic leader. Tang Ping-yuan received many honors in his lifetime including Justice of the Peace and Order of the British Empire. He died in Hong Kong in 1971. Oscar Tang has talked about his family's roots in American education publicly and attributes his own experience and philanthropy to his family history.[15]
In 1960, Tang married fellow Chinese-American Frances "Frankie" Young.[16][17] Young was the daughter of Juliana Young Koo, sister of Shirley Young, and also a stepdaughter of the Chinese diplomat Wellington Koo.[18] She graduated from Skidmore College in 1961. In later years, she was a philanthropist who specialized in landmark preservation. In 1992, she died at the age of 53 from cancer. A gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is named after her, as is the Tang Art Museum at Skidmore College, her alma mater. They had four children, son Kevin and daughters Tracy Lynn, Dana, and Kristin.[19] Tracy married Stephen Timothy Limpe, also Chinese-American through his mother Emily Ting Limpe, in 1990.[20][21][22][23] Tracy now is a philanthropist and the chairman of the board at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY, her alma mater (’80, P’18).[24][25][26] Dana Tang, an architect, married Andrew Haid Darrell, grandson of Norris Darrell, in 1998.[27][28][29][30]
Tang's second marriage, to Argie Ligeros, a yoga instructor from Vail, Colorado, ended in divorce.

In 2013 Tang married Agnes Hsu-Tang (née Hsin-Mei Hsu),[31] a Penn-, Cambridge-, and Stanford-educated archaeologist[32] and UNESCO advisor on the faculty at Columbia University.[33] Hsu has been dubbed by the Chinese press as "China's Lara Croft" for her hosting of the award-winning documentary series Mysteries of China.[34][35] Chinese and Singaporean press has widely reported that Hsu is a descendant of the Ming dynasty Catholic imperial minister Xu Guangqi[36] who was beatified by the Vatican on April 15, 2011[37] and regarded by many to be the founder of modern Shanghai. Xujiahui ("the District of the Xu/Hsu Clan") is the historical center of Catholic Shanghai.[38][failed verification] Hsu's maternal great-grandfather was Ji Xiaolan, the Qianlong Emperor's imperial minister of war and poet laureate.
Tang's brother was Jack Chi-chien Tang (唐驥千), a Hong Kong business leader, educator, philanthropist and one of the founders of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center in 1990. Jack died in 2014.[39][40]
Tang's brother-in-law was Princeton University professor, Wen Fong, who was attributed to have "helped to create and shape the academic field of East Asian art history as we know it today."[41]
Tang resides in New York City and Vail, Colorado with his wife. Tang was honored as Vail Valley's Citizen of the Year in 2004.[citation needed]
Town and Country featured Tang and his family as one of the fifty most influential families in media, art, and culture in its 2018 T&C50 issue.[42]
Philanthropy and advocacy
[edit]
According to published data, Tang has given away $200–250 million as of 2010.[43] Among other recognitions for his philanthropy, Tang is an honoree of the Carnegie Corporation's "Great Immigrants: The Pride of America."[44] Tang is known to be a significant donor to institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[45] the New York Philharmonic, Yale University,[46] Skidmore College,[47] the Vail Valley Foundation,[48] the Gordon Parks Foundation,[49][50] and other organizations. Tang has also contributed to other institutions including the Tang Center for Early China at Columbia University,[51] the Princeton University's P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art,[52] the Tang Center at MIT,[53] Duke University,[54] University of California, Berkeley,[55][56] Cornell University,[55] and Harvard University. In 2008, he gave $25 million to Phillips Academy in what was the school's largest ever single contribution.[57] In 2014, he donated an additional $15 million to Andover to establish the Tang Institute at Andover. At the Rectory School in Pomfret, Connecticut, Tang donated the P.Y and Kinmay Tang Performing Arts Center and has created the Tang Family Endowment for Excellence in Teaching with $5 million.
In June 2016, Tang was honored by the Metropolitan Museum with its Business Committee Civic Leadership Award for his service and contribution as a longtime trustee and philanthropist.[58]
After the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, Tang worked with other high-profile Chinese-Americans to found the Committee of 100, including Yo-yo Ma and I.M. Pei, to "encourage rapport and understanding between two countries."[59]
Phillips Academy and the Tang Institute at Andover
[edit]In 2008, Tang gave $25 million to Phillips Academy.[57] It was the largest single donation in the school's 230-year history.[57] The gift was used to support "need-blind admission" allowing smart students from less affluent families to attend the elite boarding school, according to headmaster Barbara Landis Chase.[57] As of 2008, Tang has contributed close to $41 million to Phillips Academy, helping boost the school's endowment over $800 million.[57] Before being installed as the President of the Phillips Academy Board of Trustees, he was a charter trustee since 1995 and a major school volunteer for over two decades. He was instrumental in preserving the buildings and campus of the former Abbot Academy, which merged with Phillips Academy, when there had been discussion about razing the no-longer-used structures; Tang's philanthropy gave funds for preservation of these buildings.
In October 2014, Tang gave an additional $15 million to establish the Tang Institute at Andover.[60] "A physical and virtual hub for entrepreneurial exploration, the Tang Institute at Andover supports community ideas for innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Focused on the Andover experience and advances in secondary education more broadly, the Institute encourages experimentation, interdisciplinary collaboration, new partnerships, connected learning, and ongoing assessment. By harnessing the intellectual curiosity and creativity of faculty and students—both in and out of the classroom—the Tang Institute seeks to have a lasting impact on campus and beyond."
Metropolitan Museum of Art
[edit]Tang is a member of the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.[61][62] He gave $14 million in 1997 to enable the museum to purchase rare and valuable Chinese paintings, most notably what is commonly known as the Riverbank by Dong Yuan.[63] His gift included 11 major paintings from the C.C. Wang collection and additional funding toward Chinese art galleries. A gallery is named after Tang's late wife, Frances Young Tang.
In March 2015, Tang, the first Chinese-American trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for more than 20 years and a leading patron of its Chinese collection, gave an additional $15 million to create new curatorial and conservation staff appointments and programming to the Museum's Asian Centennial.[64][65]
Tang received the Met Museum's Civic Leadership Award in June 2016.
In November 2021, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City announced that Chinese-American Oscar Tang and Agnes Hsu-Tang have pledged $125 million to fund the renovation of the Modern and Contemporary Wing at The Met – the largest ever capital gift to the Museum. In honor of their generosity, The Met will be renaming the M&C Wing to the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing.[66]
New York Philharmonic
[edit]Oscar L. Tang was elected to be the next co-chairman of the New York Philharmonic, with Peter W. May, on April 3, 2019.[67] Both Peter May and Oscar Tang currently serve on the Board of Directors, and have supported Philharmonic projects including co-chairing Opening, Lunar New Year, and Spring Galas. Tang and his wife have chaired the orchestra's popular Lunar New Year Concert and Gala since its inception in 2011. The New York Philharmonic is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five" and the oldest American symphonic institution. The Philharmonic's home is David Geffen Hall, located in New York's Lincoln Center.
On September 12, 2023, the New York Philharmonic announced[68] that the organization has received a gift of 40 millions, the largest endowment contribution in its history, from Co-chairman Oscar Tang and his wife, Agnes Hsu-Tang. The gift is designated to endow the Philharmonic's music and artistic director chair starting in the 2025–26 season, when Gustavo Dudamel, the 42-year-old leader of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the superstar maestro, becomes music director designate.[69]
The P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art at Princeton University
[edit]Tang funded the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art in honor of his parents.
The P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for Silk Road Studies at the University of California, Berkeley
[edit]Tang and his wife, and his nieces and nephew—Nadine Tang, Leslie Schilling, and Martin Tang—provided an endowment gift to Berkeley to establish the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center.[70]
The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College
[edit]Tang gave $10.2 million for the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College in 2000.[47] The purpose of the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery is to awaken the community to the richness and diversity of the human experience through the medium of art. Every year the Museum has a designated day in honor of its namesake and alumna, Frances Young Tang, called Frances Day.[71]
Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion Exhibition at the New-York historical Society
[edit]In September 2014, the New-York Historical Society opened "Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion", with support of the Tang family.[72] The New-York Historical Society later donated this exhibition to the Chinese Historical Society of America in San Francisco, where it is now on permanent display.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "The emperor's gift". The Economist. July 14, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "MEMBERS - Committee 100". Committee100.org. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "Rectoryschoolreportofgiving 2016 17 by Rectory School - Issuu". issuu.com. September 26, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "$25M Tang gift to strengthen need-blind admission and fund other…". Andover | An independent and inclusive coed boarding high school. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "Saving Abbot". Andover | An independent and inclusive coed boarding high school. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "Tang honors its namesake with special day". www.skidmore.edu. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "Tang Family Fund expands support of Skidmore academics and Tang Museum". www.skidmore.edu. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ PhillipsAndover (November 26, 2012). Oscar Tang '56: An Andover Life. Retrieved May 17, 2024 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "HBS Campaign News" (PDF). Harvard Business School Alumni. December 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
- ↑ "Committee of 100 Annual Gala & Summit 2015" (PDF). Committee of 100. April 9–10, 2015. p. 25. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
- ↑ Quint, Michael (March 30, 1993). "New England Company Sets Reich Merger". The New York Times.
- ↑ Falstad, Jan (August 19, 2012). "In 50 years, KOA has grown into the nation's king of camping". Billings Gazette. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
- ↑ "Join KOA in Supporting The Yellow Whistle to stop Asian Hate". KOA Blog. Archived from the original on September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
- ↑ "CEM Connections - Won Bing Chung". Cemconnections.org. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "唐騮千 徐心眉:美籍華人—排斥與包容 - 視頻首頁 美國中文網視頻". Archived from the original on December 4, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
- ↑ "Frances L. Young Betrothed To Oscar Tang, Yale 1960". The New York Times. June 12, 1960. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "Frances L. Young Betrothed To Oscar Tang, Yale 1960". The New York Times. June 1960. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
- ↑ "屈山河: 顧維鈞遺孀嚴幼韻107歲傳奇 - 纵览中国". Chinainperspective.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ Pace, Eric (February 4, 1992). "Frances Tang, 53; Was Philanthropist and Preservationist". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
Frances Young Tang, a philanthropist in the field of education and a preservationist specializing in landmark buildings, died on Friday at her home in Manhattan. She was 53 years old ...
- ↑ "Tracy Tang to Wed Stephen Limpe". The New York Times. August 12, 1990. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "S. T. Limpe Weds Tracy Lynn Tang". The New York Times. September 9, 1990. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "Stephen Limpe – Museum of Chinese in America". www.mocanyc.org. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "Anthony Limpe Obituary - Greenwich, CT".
- ↑ "News Post". Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ↑ "Board of Trustees". www.mastersny.org. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ Sibery, Kate. "Community responds to $20 million donation for new IEC". Tower. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "WEDDINGS; Dana Tang and Andrew Darrell". The New York Times. February 8, 1998. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
Dana Tang, a daughter of Oscar L. Tang of New York and the late Frances Young Tang, was married last evening to Andrew Haid Darrell,
- ↑ "Norris Darrell, Lawyer And Tax Expert, 90". The New York Times. August 15, 1989. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "Norris W. Darrell, Philanthropist Who Created Path to College for Islanders". The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "NORRIS DARRELL Obituary (2017) - New York, NY - New York Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ↑ "Hsin-Mei Hsu, Oscar Tang - Weddings". The New York Times. May 19, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ [dead link]
- ↑ "Agnes Hsu-Tang - EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES". Archived from the original on June 24, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ↑ "徐心眉:中国历史的导火索-美国中文网视频". video.sinovision.net. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "The Silk Road: An AMNH/UNESCO World Heritage Expedition through Central Asia". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "Xu Guangqi - Beyond Ricci". ricci.bc.edu. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "Church to beatify early China convert in Shanghai". ucanews.com. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "美国历史频道欲推出《探秘中国》系列纪录节目". Archived from the original on December 29, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- ↑ "In Memory of Dr. Jack Tang Chi-chien". Asia Society. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ Fabrikant, Geraldine (November 12, 2007). "For Chinese-Americans, Schools Earn the Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "Wen Fong, 'giant in the field of Chinese art history,' dies at 88". Princeton University. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "The T&C 50: The Most Influential Families in Media, Art, and Culture". Town & Country. October 17, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ static.ow.ly/docs/power%20100_Y55.pdf
- ↑ "Oscar Tang | Great Immigrants: The Pride of America Great Immigrants: The Pride of America". Archived from the original on August 18, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
- ↑ Dobrzynski, Judith H. (May 19, 1997). "11 Major Chinese Paintings Promised to Met". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
... Six of the works in the gift will go on display immediately in the galleries, whose expansion was a two-year, $14 million project. The gift is being made by Oscar L. Tang, an investment manager who is a trustee of the Metropolitan and put up the money for the paintings. ...
- ↑ "Yale University Bulletin - School of Architecture 2017–2018 - Endowment and Term Funds". bulletin.printer.yale.edu. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- 1 2 Cotter, Holland (December 22, 2000). "ART REVIEW; Party Time: Inside and Out, Playful Wit Reigns at Skidmore's New Museum". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery is on the campus of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. ... Paid for mostly by a gift from the Chinese-born American businessman Oscar Tang, whose daughter and wife Frances both graduated from Skidmore, the $10.2 million museum ...
- ↑ "Vail Valley Foundation - Arts, Athletics, Education". Vail Valley Foundation. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "The Gordon Parks Foundation". Gordonparksfoundation.org. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ Cunningham, Bill (June 7, 2009). "EVENING HOURS; June Moon". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
The Gordon Parks Foundation, which preserves and promulgates the work of Mr. Parks, a groundbreaking photographer, had a dinner at Gotham Hall ... OSCAR TANG,
- ↑ "Upcoming Events". ealac.columbia.edu. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "Tang Center for East Asian Art - Tang Center for East Asian Art". tang.princeton.edu. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "MIT Building E51 (Tang Center) - Serving Boston computer professionals for over 50 years". Gbcacm.org. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "Sr. Director of University Advancement Communications - Florida, United States job with Alumni Association | 41487". The Chronicle of Philanthropy Jobs. December 8, 2023.
- 1 2 Fabrikant, Geraldine (November 12, 2007). "For Chinese-Americans, Schools Earn the Prize". The New York Times.
- ↑ Brice, Anne (May 4, 2017). "Berkeley to open first university center for Silk Road study in North America". The University of California.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Globe Staff (February 6, 2008). "Alumnus donates $25 million to Phillips Academy". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
Phillips Academy in Andover announced today that the school had received a $25 million donation, the largest single gift in its 230-year history, from retired Wall Street investor Oscar L. Tang.
- ↑ "Corbat Gets de Blasio Toast at the Met as Clinton Takes Brooklyn". Bloomberg.com. June 8, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ Peek, Liz (May 8, 2007). "Lulu Wang Throttles Back (Except on the Racetrack)". New York Sun. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
... a group of high-level Chinese-Americans — who include I.M. Pei, Yo-Yo Ma, and Oscar Tang — created shortly after the Tiananmen Square crackdown to "encourage rapport and understanding between two countries that I love and have great loyalty to,...
- ↑ "Phillips Academy - Introducing the Tang Institute". Archived from the original on November 24, 2014. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
- ↑ Cunningham, Bill (December 9, 2007). "EVENING HOURS; Season of Giving". The New York Times: Style. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
The Acquisitions Fund Benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art held a gala for the opening of the new 19th- and early-20th-century galleries. ... and OSCAR TANG with
- ↑ "Oscar L. Tang: Philanthropy Profile | Metropolitan Museum of Art". Patron View. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
- ↑ Dobrzynski, Judith H. (May 25, 1997). "Landscapes Were Never The Same". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
Southern Tang Dynasty scholar Dong Yuan created the illusion of depth and distance as he painted mountains and rivers on silk. He was a founder of the Chinese monumental landscape style. Last week, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York opened its new Chinese galleries, one of a few surviving works attributed to Dong Yuan, The Riverbank, had pride of place. ... Part of the renowned collection of 90-year-old C. C. Wang, an artist who escaped from Communist China in the 1950s, it had been bought for the Met by the financier Oscar L. Tang.
- ↑ "Landmark Gifts of Art and Funding Dramatically Enhance Met Museum's Asian Art Department as Yearlong Program of Exhibitions and Activities Begins, Celebrating Department's Centennial | the Metropolitan Museum of Art". Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ↑ Gamerman, Ellen (May 6, 2015). "For China Show, the Met Goes Where the Money Is". Wsj.com. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ Caroline Goldstein (November 30, 2021). "The Met Just Received $125 Million—the Largest Gift in Its History—to Build Its Long-Awaited Modern Wing Expansion". Artnet.
- ↑ "The NY Phil Blog". www.nyphil.org.
- ↑ "A Landmark Gift from Oscar L. Tang and Agnes Hsu-Tang". www.nyphil.org. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
- ↑ Hernández, Javier C. (September 12, 2023). "With $40 Million Gift, New York Philharmonic Jump-Starts Dudamel Era". The New York Times.
- ↑ Brice, Anne (May 3, 2017). "UC Berkeley to open first university center for Silk Road study in North America". Berkeley News. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- ↑ "Tang Teaching Museum | Events | Frances Day 2014". Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ↑ "Explore". Chineseamerican.nyhistory.org. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
External links
[edit]- 1930s births
- Living people
- American financiers
- Businesspeople from New York City
- Businesspeople from Shanghai
- Chinese emigrants to the United States
- Refugees of the Chinese Civil War
- Harvard Business School alumni
- Members of the Committee of 100
- People associated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Philanthropists from New York (state)
- Phillips Academy alumni
- Yale University alumni