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For years, Liangqiao (Harry) He, ’01, wanted to set up a fund to help the needy in the remote rural Chinese village where he was born. Learning that he had cancer prompted him to establish the MingLin Education Fund in January. On March 6, he passed away.
Two years ago when He was an M&A manager at Adobe in California, he was diagnosed with cancer. Despite aggressive treatment, it spread to his liver, and the doctors had no more treatment options to offer. His thoughts turned to the fund. I thought I had plenty of time to fulfill this dream, but I was wrong. Suddenly, I realized I would not be able to support the education fund by myself, he wrote for the Web site, www.minglin.org.
In January, He established the MingLin Education Fund, named in honor of his parents, and decided to focus on one elementary schoolYunnan XuanWei Deyi Elementary Schoolwhere nearly 20 percent of the 600 students find it hard to afford tuition and fees. After setting up the Web site, he sent an e-mail to colleagues at Adobe, alumni at Renmin University of China, and the members of his GSB cohort, Nobels 99. A gift of $40 would allow one child to attend school for a year, he said.
In both China and the United States, a flood of donations began to pour in. The first gift of $2,000 was made January 10; by February 16, the total was more than $46,000about a third from GSB alumni.
He’s friends have been touched by his struggle. Sue Luh, ’01, said in an e-mail to alumni, It dawned on us that over the past years, we have been so utterly engrossed in our personal agendas, we have not thought about caring for others. Seeing He Liangqiao think about others in the face of death has been a real awakening.
GSB alumni clubs in Beijing and Shanghai drafted both short- and long-term plans to raise money and monitor the distribution well into the future. More volunteers are needed. For information contact Luh at msluh@chicagobooth.edu, or Frank Li, ’00, at myli2@chicagobooth.edu or visit www.minglin.org.
Patricia Houlihan