James Liang, former professor of Oriental studies in the School of Arts & Sciences, died at his home in Iowa City on January 30. He was 83.

Dr. Liang was born in Hubei, China, and his family moved many times after his birth due to several wars. When he was 13, he was separated from them, and he walked for a month through the winter—enduring starvation, shootings and hungry wolves—before he found them in Tianjin. They eventually settled in Taiwan in 1948. Dr. Liang had early experience as a liaison officer in the Nationalist Chinese Army.

Dr. Liang completed his studies at National Taiwan Normal University. In 1961, he traveled to America to complete his PhD in linguistics at Penn. In 1963, he was hired as a professor of Oriental studies (which became the department of Asian and Middle Eastern studies in 1992) in the School of Arts & Sciences. 

He left Penn in 1976 to move to the Netherlands for a position at Leiden University, where he reorganized the Chinese language program and was also named prorector for international affairs for the university’s collaborations with institutions in China and Taiwan. Dr. Liang retired in 2006, moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, and then to Iowa City, Iowa.

Dr. Liang is survived by his wife, Cynthia; children Mark, Karin and Eric; grandchildren Jordan, Jennifer, Jackson, Jamie, Ryan, Julian, Maya and Luca; and siblings Xiao Yu (Helen), Chao Min, Xiao Jia and Chao Jun (Robert).

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