Wang, student center namesake, visits campus

On the Wellesley College campus, Lulu Chow Wang is quite well known—the student center, that is. The building is architecturally intriguing and one of the first to be seen upon entering campus along the main road. The name is thrown around by students offhandedly yet regularly—"Let's meet at the Lulu," or "Dinner at the Wang?"

Last Tuesday, Phi Sig welcomed Lulu Chow Wang '66 to the Pendleton Atrium to, as their advertisements proclaimed, "speak about life post-Wellesley, career as a businesswoman [and] her passions in life!"

The woman whom the building is named after, on the other hand, is somewhat unfamiliar. Wellesley's lecture society, Alpha Phi Sigma, attempted to bridge this gap last week.

Introduced by Phi Sig member Samantha Chu '09 as "one of Wellesley's most prestigious alums," Wang (pronounced Wong) went on to speak for approximately 45 minutes. Wang revolved her talk around the theme that while life has unexpected turns, everything will eventually fall into place.

Wang's life perfectly exemplifies this theme. She was born in 1944 in New Delhi—in a car. By 1948, her father was a senior official in China's Nationalist Party, and took the family on a vacation to America. During their trip, Communist leader Mao Zedong defeated the Nationalist Party, making it impossible for Wang's family to return to China. Wang's family settled in Long Island, New York. After attending public schools, Wang entered Wellesley College.

At Wellesley, she wrote for the Wellesley News while pursuing a degree in English. During her sophomore year, she met Anthony Wang, an undergraduate at Yale University who was one year older. When they married after her junior year, she decided to take a leave-of-absence from Wellesley, and later returned to graduate with the class of 1966.

Her first job was as a financial writer for a small brokerage firm in New York. This completely augmented her career path towards Wall Street finance after graduating college with an English degree.

She wasn't fully satisfied there, and chose to move on to Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette with the hopes of becoming a securities analyst. From there, she went to Bankers Trust Co., and then to Equitable Capital Management. While at Equitable, she earned her MBA from Columbia University's School of Business in 1983. This degree enabled her to reach the position of Executive Vice President at her next stop, Jennison Associates Capital Corporation.

In 1997, she founded her own investment company Tupelo Capital Management in New York where she is the CEO. The company is named for Tupelo Point, which overlooks Lake Waban on Wellesley's campus.

The company's success allowed her and her husband to donate $25 million to Wellesley College to construct the Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center. Wang wanted a greater community-oriented campus center to replace the Schneider Center, which she claims led her to leave campus as often as possible during her time as an undergraduate. This gift is not only the largest in Wellesley's history but also the largest gift by an individual to a women's college.

"I really enjoyed hearing about her life had such a zig-zagged path. This just confirmed that I don't have to be a certain way at Wellesley. It reduced the stress here at Wellesley and confirmed that the Wellesley name would be recognized worldwide," Surina Diddi '12 said.

Wang's talk was followed by a question-and-answer session. Students asked questions ranging from whether she had any advice for graduating seniors—"to go forth with confidence"—to what she does in her spare time—"collect American art and vintage race cars" (which she and her husband race!).

"[I] liked the questions students asked because they were informal and more about her experience…not her success. [The lecture] could have very well been a discussion about the state of Wall Street or the evolution of women in the workforce. It was nice to hear a discussion about being a Wellesley alum—a reflection on her experiences during and after Wellesley," Monet Spells '10 said.

Spells added, "If anything, I most enjoyed her discussion about her interactions in the workplace. Being a woman in corporate America will always loom over my head as a possible challenge, but according to Lulu Chow Wang, I don't have to be afraid to ask for a larger raise because I know that I am well educated and qualified."

Wellesley students agreed it was nice to hear that life has its surprises and see through living proof that a Wellesley woman can take time off of school, start a family and still build a multi-billion dollar empire.