George Chao-sheng Sung

Born in Tainan, Taiwan in 1935, he was the son of a medical doctor Jui-chen Sung and Chih Sung-Tsai and the fifth of seven children. George attended schools in Kaohsiung, played baseball and excelled in math and English. He was in the first class to graduate from Tunghai University, a Christian university in Taichung, earning his BA in English. Oberlin graduate students in the foreign language department encouraged him to study in the States. During his compulsory military service, he was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the headquarters to teach English to officers. In 1961, he flew on a propeller plane across the Pacific, landing in the U.S. at Honolulu and then Oakland where he boarded a bus to Wisconsin. In 1963 he earned a MA in political science from the University of Wisconsin, and in 1965 drove to Washington, D.C. to work for the U.S. Army and study at George Washington University where he earned his doctorate in political science in 1970. His dissertation on power politics in Communist China, 1959-1966, focused on the People’s Liberation Army roles in solidifying Mao’s power before the Cultural Revolution. He joined Rand Corporation as China specialist for a decade, and worked on a biographical approach to study the distribution of power among Chinese military and political leaders. He also pioneered the first computer program for the State Department to study the career patterns of Chinese leaders. When Rand moved research to California, George remained in Bethesda and transitioned to entrepreneurial pursuits. He supported democracy in Taiwan as being critical for its survival. He traveled to Taiwan to vote, attend presidential inaugurations, and teach at Tunghai. During its 40-year anniversary celebration, the Capital Area Taiwanese Federal Credit Union recognized him as its longest serving founder.

He is survived by his wife and children, a sister Chao-pi Tseng-Sung and brothers Chao-ho Sung and John Sung. A memorial service will take place at noon on Saturday, December 11 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church at 7730 Bradley Blvd Bethesda, MD. Donations in George’s name may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Lewy Body Dementia Association, or Tunghai University.