Cecelia Chang

When Cecelia Chang came to St. John’s in 1976, she wasn’t planning to stay long. She was an exchange student from Taiwan, working toward her Master’s Degree in East Asian Studies. After finishing her Master’s in East Asian Studies in 1977, Chang felt she needed a new challenge. Working all the time for St. John’s, she completed her MBA in 1979, and her Masters in Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College in 1983. But St. John’s remained close to her heart, and with three American graduate degrees under her belt, she returned to the University as Director of Development of the Center for Asian Studies. She didn’t stop there. In 1992 she was appointed Dean of the Center of Asian Studies, and Director of the Institute of Asian Studies. Chang continued to serve as Dean of the Center of Asian Studies, and took on the additional role of Vice President for International Relations. Dr Chang, who was nicknamed 'the Dean of Mean,' was also reportedly a suspect in the 1990 murder of her first husband, who was shot three times in the back by an unknown assassin