This tribute is to an exceptional man: A modest and honest man; a man of great character and energy. It was an honor to know him. I knew him well. Ting and I were close friends for more than four decades. A memory of the kindness and warmth he displayed his entire life will remain in the hearts of all who knew him. Helping others was part of his character.
Speaking to, or being with Ting was always a pleasure. His smile brightened the room. His demeanor of optimism and cheerfulness was evident even though he was very ill. Very few people knew that he underwent dialysis for several years. Ting was a courageous man. An example of his courage was demonstrated whenever I asked him how he felt, he would say: “I'm OK”.
Ting was born in the Shangsi County of the Guangxi province in China and died in Taipei on September 2nd of 2013. His father was Kin C. Huang and his mother was Ky T. Ha Huang. Ting is survived by Gina, his spouse, his two sons, Allen and Tony, and his granddaughter Caroline.
Ting worked tirelessly all his life to provide a good life and education for his boys. He was very proud of both of them. He often spoke about them when we were together. He demonstrated his confidence in one of them when he selected Allen to work along with him on the Powder Diffraction Journal of which Ting was the Editor-in-Chief.
Ting's technical career began when he received his PhD degree in Physics from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1972…the year I met him in San Jose. He received a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Taiwan Cheng Hung University in 1967, and a Master of Science in Physics from C.W. Post College of Long Island University in 1969. He worked with Ben Post at Brooklyn Poly and with Bill Parrish at IBM. His career at IBM began in 1972 and after a long and distinguished career he retired in 1997 to become a Research Staff Member Emeritus of IBM at the Almaden Research Center at San Jose, CA. Ting held several important positions and received many awards. He served as Editor-in-Chief for the Powder Diffraction Journal and Advances in X-ray Analysis, was Co-editor of the Journal of Applied Crystallography from1992 to 2002, Co-Chairman of the Denver X-ay Conference for 5 years, and a Distinguished Fellow of the International Centre for Diffraction Data. He was an author of more than 160 scientific papers and received many awards including the German Alexander von Humboldt Award for Senior US Scientists and the prestigious Barrett Award for his work in thin-film analysis and powder diffraction. His efforts and contributions to promote international participation in materials characterization were major. He encouraged the creation of crystallographic centers in Asia. Ting was a visiting professor at both Kwang-si University in China and Tsin-hua University in Taiwan and served as Chief Technical Advisor to the United Nations Development Program at the Chinese National Microanalysis Center for Electronic Materials and Devices in Shanghai, China. What an impressive list of accomplishments!
Although writing this tribute was a traumatic experience it was also a great honor. It reminded me of all the good times we had together and that I spoke to him, by phone, the day he died peacefully in his sleep.
We miss you, Ting. A memory of you will forever remain in our hearts. Good bye dear friend.
