HENDERSON YEUNG Obituary

Dr. Henderson Yeung was Chairman Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at California State University Fresno. He passed away on February 11, 2016. He was the major force in the formation of the Computer Science Department at CSU-Fresno in 1985. Under his leadership, in 1991, an external review team deemed the CSU Fresno Computer Science graduate program as one of the best PhD preparatory programs in the California State University System. He was a dedicated educator with high expectations of his students, some of whom subsequently excelled in academia and industry. He was a remarkable person.

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Published by Fresno Bee on Feb. 21, 2016.

Memories and Condolences
for HENDERSON YEUNG

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8 Entries

Peter Li

November 17, 2017

Dr. Henderson Yeung was my mathematics professor while I was an undergraduate student in CSU Fresno. He encouraged me to pursue a graduate degree in mathematics and become a research mathematician. He was one of the first who had profoundly influenced my career. He will be sorely missed but will remain in my memory forever.

Henderson Yeung and Brian Riley in the Daily Collegian (photo by Jean Vevers)

Brian Riley

November 14, 2017

"Don't worry!..." This is what Dr. Yeung always told us. He was a genuinely nice man who was concerned about us, though he once told me he regretted there were so many students that he wasn't able to keep track of our individual progress too closely or nudge us when we needed nudging (as they might do at Stanford, he explained). I see now that he was helping us get a world-class education right at our neighborhood university, Fresno State. What a privilege it was!

Yes, he was a genius, though he was so down to earth that we never thought of him this way. He was simply our role model and mentor -- the guy who knew "deep truths" (a term he used once when talking about trees in graphing) that we hoped we could learn from him, so we paid attention to him and tried our best. He didn't drill us on comparatively lesser important details, but he always focused on the big picture. Once, during third semester calculus, he spent several sessions in a row lecturing to us about the same formula (the "delta" formula in three dimensions). I remember feeling a bit like I was floundering, but looking back, I see now that he was trying to teach us to think in fundamentals, which was brave of him to do. (He once told us about a conversation with the dean that he had early in his career when the dean advised him to assign more homework, saying that if he didn't then then students would waste time playing frisbee!) On the day of the final examination, I got caught up reading a book all day in the campus bookstore and when I walked into the classroom to take the final I was sure that I was going to fail. To my great relief, Dr. Yeung announced that if we were happy with the grade we already had up to that point that we could skip the final and then that would be our grade for the course. I never felt so relieved in my life! I walked out with an "A", without taking the final.

Here (posted with this note) is a photo of Dr. Yeung and me posing for the Daily Collegian for an article that appeared along with an article about the new computer science option being offered for math majors (tinyurl dot com slash yb9tzyfk). I was having the time of my life. I remember vividly an assignment that he made during Fortran class when I was a freshman: "Write a short program that contains double-nested for-loops." I wanted to do well, but the computer lab rooms closed at 9 pm, so I continued a trick I had learned as a high school sophomore, when I hung around the labs trying to learn to program (tinyurl dot comslash ybm45tyv), I went to the back of the Ed-Psych building and shimmied up a scrawny tree to reach the outside ledge, then walked the length of the ledge and went through the small open window in the computer lab there. That way I was able to work late into the night and do good work.

What a great guy! I will never forget him. He was even gracious enough to correspond with me via e-mail years after graduating, once telling me about a fascinating book that he had read at Border's Bookstore. We will miss him.

Prof. Yeung - bottom 3rd from right

Ying Wai LEUNG

August 2, 2017

I never knew Professor Yeung as Henderson. He was Yang Chik Hing when we were high school school-mates in 1950's Hong Kong. In the days that algebra, geometry & trigonometry were ultimate in high school maths, he self studied calculus already during form 4 (equivalent to grade 10 ?) - a real genius even then.
I regret not trying to look him up a few years back when with some classmates, we drove by Fresno.
He will always be remembered as a genius; but we also remember him as the BEST ping pong player in the whole school.
(He is at bottom 3rd from right in photo)

Dino Tang

March 19, 2016

My old professor from the Fresno State had passed away. I somehow missed this as my Fresno friends are all on Google+. I should at least log onto Google+ every now and then. Henderson practically built the department of Computer Science there, and we were his very first group of students under the emerging program. I owe all the success in my later career to Dr. Henderson Yeung. I'll always miss you.

Charles Haddad

February 26, 2016

Dr. Yung was a great professor
may he rest in peace -- in his classes
I used to make A's for the reason that
Henderson was a good teacher!

Pritesh Parekh

February 24, 2016

I am very sad to hear this news. Dr. Yeung was a great professor, a great human being and my mentor. I started my journey in US back in 2001 and Dr. Yeung was the first person I met on campus at Fresno State. He guided me from day one, throughout my MS program going above and beyond to help me and making sure I am successful. Things I learnt from Dr. Yeung has set me on the right career track. I owe my success to Dr. Yeung. Thank you Dr. Yeung for all that you have given to me and your contribution to Fresno Sate. You are truly the best professor and a great human being. You will be missed and will be in our hearts. Rest in peace. God bless!

Jeff Jacobs

February 22, 2016

I was working for Halliburton Geophysical in Hanford when I decided I might like to return to school, maybe become a teacher. I went to the California State University Fresno campus looking for someone in the Education department. No one was around so I thought I might try to talk to someone in the Computer Science department. There I met Henderson. He told me that the computer science department was in competition with other cal state universities for a masters program. He informed me since I had an undergraduate degree in geology, I could qualify for the masters program by first taking some undergraduate courses. It worked out just as he said and I think I was the third person to get a Masters in computer science at Cal State Fresno. I have since worked for Pelco for the last 22 years and should credit this great man helping me. In particular loved his lectures, his knowledge of computer science history, and his sense of humor. Rest in peace Henderson sorry I missed the funeral.

Gloria Riojas

February 22, 2016

I have many wonderful memories of this man. To me he was kind, generous, and brilliant. He was a terrific mentor to students and to me. I cannot believe he is gone. He used to come into my office often and just chat. I had the honor of being hired by him for the department.....he was the department chair. Always respectful . I loved this man . May he rest in peace. I will never forget that when bringing students to my office he would say, if you need help speak to the real Chair of the department Gloria. He always asked that I refer to him only as Henderson. I always referred to him as Dr. Yeung. I will never forget your contributions to the Department. Regret not having been able to pay my respects to your family. Rest in Peace.

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