Nancy Wang Cheng, a retired Penn librarian of three decades, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 31. She was 93 years old.

Ms. Cheng was born in Shanghai, China. She received her BA from St. John’s University, Shanghai. She came to Philadelphia for her graduate studies and was unable to return home in 1949 as a result of the Communist Party takeover of Mainland China. In 1963, she earned her master’s degree in library science from Drexel University.

Ms. Cheng joined Penn in 1961 as an assistant in Oriental Studies in SAS. In 1964 she became a cataloguer in Van Pelt Library. She became the East Asian bibliographer in 1969. Her extensive bibliographical knowledge provided invaluable assistance to many dissertation candidates and academic researchers; she was also considered a warm and amiable colleague with a wonderful sense of humor. She retired from Penn in 1990 and then briefly served as a lecturer in Penn’s College of General Studies.

Ms. Cheng is survived by her brother, Zurong; two sisters, Zumei and Zuqian; two sons, Benjamin (Maggie) and Franklin (Kathleen); and four grandchildren, Christopher, Allison, Nicholas and Zachary.

A “Celebration of Life” for Ms. Cheng is planned for March 5. See the West Laurel Hill Cemetery website: http://www.forever-care.com