Remarks for Juian Seuz’s memorial service_06.07.25.docx
Remarks for Julian Suez’s memorial Service
6/7/2025 in Edwards-Dowdle Funeral Home
Dear Suez family members and Friends:
I am Jim Cheng, Director of the C.V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia. Today,
we gather to celebrate Julian’s meaningful and accomplished life. Please first allow
me to say something on behalf of Ann Thornton, Vice Provost and University
Librarian at Columbia, and myself. We would like to pay the highest respect and
bid a heartfelt farewell to Mr. Julian Suez our dear friend and unwavering
supporter of our library.
Julian and his family have a deep connection with Columbia; his grandfather,
Iuming Suez while serving as the Chinese diplomat in New York in 1919, created
the “Consul Suez Prize” given for the best essay written by Chinese students at
Columbia addressing China’s social problems. Mr. Iuming Suez was also invited to
Columbia to give a lecture on Chinese culture and advised Chinese students on
Christianity and China’s modernization. Julian’s Cousin Julie How, a historian in
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, played a pivotal role in the world renowned
China Oral History Project from the 1950s to 1970s.
In 2014, our library co-sponsored a new book launching event that focusing on Julian’s maternal grandfather Xia Ruifang, founder of Commercial Press in Shanghai and I gave the remarks during the event at Columbia.
In 2016, Julian established the Julian Suez Chinese Studies Endowment Fund in honor of his mother Rhoda How to support library activities in connection with Chinese Studies, including, but not limited to, processing archival materials; collection development; and outreach programs in the C.V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University.
In 2018, our library organized and hosted the Symposium in Memory of Iuming Suez.
In 2023, Julian endowed the I. M. Suez Lecture Fund within the Department of East Asian
Languages and Cultures at Columbia University to give scholars in Tibetan
Studies.an opportunity to give lectures on their research.
In 2024, our library co-sponsored with Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures the first lecture by Dr. Ling-Wei Kung funded by the I.M Seuz Lecture Fund.
Personally, I became close friends with Julian through last decade, which started
when we began working together on his family history and participating together
in our library’s outreach events. He introduced me to his close friend, TC Hsu,
former President of the Starr Foundation.
*With Julian Seuz and T.C. Hsu, former President of the Starr Foundation, 11/4/2015 in T.C’s
apartment
We went to test the Chinese food together and developed a Columbia Library Menu after he was asked by Laurette Feng, T.V. Soong’s daughter to in charge of a dinner menu for a Columbia and Fudan joint workshop in 2018; we spoke Shanghainese dialect whenever possible, exchanging stories of old and new Shanghai. We are extremely grateful that Julian agreed to be interviewed by Dr. Chengzhi Wang, Chinese studies Librarian and I in2023 as left a valuable oral history record in our library.
Confucius once facing the yellow river said, “time and life like the water in the
river, passing rapidly day and night”. Water keeps moving but the river is always
there. Julian left us but his spirit and legacy will stay forever with us at Columbia
and beyond.