Katherine Ding Pih

Katherine was the daughter of James Ding, a Methodist minister, and the first Chinese President of the Anglo-Chinese College, Foochow, the niece of Lucy Wang, the first Chinese president of Hwa Nan College, and the Great-Great-Granddaughter of the Great Qing Dynasty Scholar Wong Run Kang. Born on April 1, 1922 in Foochow, China, Katherine came to the United States with her sister Lucy in 1947, first attending Morningside College and then the University of Oregon where she obtained a Masters in Nutrition. Throughout her long career in scientific research, Katherine held positions at leading institutions. Initially, as a laboratory scientist at the Variety Club Heart Hospital, University of Minnesota under Dr. Robert A. Good; then at the Ciba-Geigy research laboratories in New Jersey; then at The Institute of Microbiology, Rutgers University; and finally at the Rutgers Medical School (now the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey) under Dr. Ron Morris. Later as a cancer researcher at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research where she was reunited with Dr. Good, she helped in midwifing the new field of Immunobiology. She managed Dr. Good’s clinical research laboratory, Section 6104, where HLA Tissue Typing which is used for determining compatible tissue and organ donors, and the cure for leukemia and immuno-deficiency diseases using bone marrow transplantation were pioneered. She later moved to Oklahoma City to be with Dr. Good at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) from where she retired. Over the course of two decades, she helped and trained hundreds of students and doctors in Immunobiology techniques and procedures.

Katherine is survived by her sister, Emily, her brother James, her son Peter, and two grandchildren; William and Emma.

Graveside service will be held at 1:00 P.M. Thursday, October 25, 2018, at the Resurrection Chapel at Resurrection Memorial Cemetery. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 A.M. Saturday, October 27, 2018, at the Sooner Baptist Church.