Out of the Ordinary

David was elected to Caltech’s board in 2000 and has chaired it since 2012. “I don’t take this position lightly,” he says. “We all want to identify the essence of Caltech and protect it.”

He sees the Break Through campaign and its bold, $2 billion fundraising goal as a means to that end. No university of Caltech’s size—by number of faculty, students, or alumni—has attempted to raise such an ambitious amount. David wanted to be a part of it.

“This campaign is historic,” David says. “There is a Caltech way of doing science that provides a unique service to humanity. Break Through will ensure that Caltech can continue to accomplish things that other institutions are not able to do.”

Early in the campaign, the couple made a leadership gift to support graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy (PMA) by endowing the David and Ellen Lee Distinguished Fellows Fund. “Caltech collects the best intellects, the best scientists, the best creative thinkers, and gives them total freedom,” David says. “That is what is so special about this place.”

Why give to aspiring scholars? David remembers the years he spent as a Caltech graduate student as some of the best of his life. Now, he and Ellen want future generations of scientists to have their own remarkable experiences here.

As a graduate student, David joined the TAPIR (Theoretical Astrophysics Including Relativity and Cosmology) research group led by Kip Thorne, now Caltech’s Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus.

For David, it was a period of intense focus accented with unforgettable moments, including annual visits from Stephen Hawking—a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at Caltech—and his graduate students. Each day, Kip, Stephen, and their students plunged into their work, united in trying to understand the fundamental nature of the universe. Then, as evening fell, Kip invited everyone to his house. There they enjoyed food and drink, stimulating conversation, and performances by Stephen’s musically skilled protégés. “Later on, many of the people I worked with became giants in their field,” David says.

Early on, David learned that Kip’s creativity applied to both his scholarship and his teaching methods. Kip left campus and journeyed to a campsite on Palomar Mountain every summer, and advisees who wanted to discuss their research had to grab their sleeping bags and join him. When putting in the considerable effort it took to visit their adviser, David and others knew they had to be thoughtful in their discussions. Kip’s approach of encouraging excellence in others is one of many reasons David holds him in high esteem to this day. In fact, when Kip was named a Caltech Distinguished Alumnus in 2015, David was there to help present the award. “To be able to honor Kip was a really special moment for me,” David says.

In 1972, Ellen had just arrived from Taiwan and enrolled at Cal State LA when a friend invited her to a dance party at Caltech. The Caltech Chinese Student Association organized the festivities, and Ellen, who initially was reluctant to attend, felt a glimmer of hope that she might find an opportunity to speak with someone in Mandarin. But the night would not turn out as she expected.

Inside a sparsely decorated room in Winnett Student Center, music played but no one danced. The men clustered in groups and hardly made eye contact with the women. Everyone conversed in Cantonese and English. Ellen considered leaving until she finally met one Mandarin-speaking student—David.

David completed his studies and drafted his thesis in less than four years. His final hurdle was to present his own work—a mathematical classification that tested and analyzed theories of gravity—to luminaries such as Richard Feynman.

During David’s defense, an argument erupted after a committee member asked him a tangential question. As David began to approach the chalkboard to demonstrate his knowledge, he was politely instructed to remain seated. Eventually, he was asked to leave the room. He waited nervously in the hallway of Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics until Kip came out, all smiles. David had passed. In the process, he also set some records—including defending his thesis in an hour and a half’s time. “I felt like I had climbed a mountain,” he says.

Once David and Ellen had earned their degrees, they celebrated their upcoming nuptials on campus in Dabney Lounge. Their engagement party was a do-it-yourself affair where family and friends enjoyed snacks and cake and listened to music from a hi-fi stereo system.

David and Ellen remained in the Pasadena area after graduation—as did many other Caltech alumni they had befriended. The group maintained close ties by going on outings together and returning to campus to play softball and basketball. As a second generation emerged, they joined family swim time at the Caltech pool and played tennis while their babies were tucked into seats on the side of the court. By banding together, they created a supportive community and a stable environment for their families, even as some spouses traveled extensively for work.

To this day, David and Ellen celebrate Lunar New Year with this same group of friends. “Our children have grown up knowing each other,” Ellen says. “Now a third generation has arrived and everyone is so eager to bring the grandchildren to our gatherings.”

Every year at Caltech’s commencement, David is reminded of his time in graduate school. As board chair, he presides over the ceremony, delivering an address to the Caltech community and greeting graduate students as they walk on stage. He also places the academic hood over doctoral graduates’ regalia—an uncommon role for a board chair and one that demonstrates David’s deep involvement and affection for his alma mater.

He cherishes these moments. “These students have accomplished something significant, and I am filled with joy to see their faces,” he says. “I have nothing but best wishes for them.”

At the time of its public launch in April 2016, Break Through already had raised more than half of its $2 billion goal. Thanks in great part to David’s leadership and his and Ellen’s deep commitment, Caltech will sustain its iconic approach to discovery for generations to come.