I was introduced to Dr. S. W. Kung by the late Dr. K. N. Chang, a former President of the Bank of China and a former Governor of the Central Bank of China, in the late 1970s, in Palo Alto, California. Dr. S. W. Kung, at the time the Chairman and CEO of the Bank of Canton of California, was a senior executive of the Bank of China in Mainland China for many years prior to 1949. Thus began our close association. Dr. Kung was always an adviser, a mentor, and a dear friend to me.

Dr. Kung recruited me to serve on the Board of Directors of the Bank of Canton of California and introduced me to the intricacies of the world of banking. I had the great honor and privilege to work with Dr. S. W. Kung from 1980 to 1986. I learned a great deal from him. Under his leadership, we developed the Bank of Canton of California Building at 555 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, a 17-story building, on the original site where the Bank was first founded. We also embarked on a branch expansion program, establishing a presence in Southern California. He also introduced me to the late Dr. Kuo-Hwa Yu, who was at the time the Governor of the Central Bank of China and subsequently the Premier of the Republic of China on Taiwan.

At the time he took over the Bank of Canton of California, in 1972, it had just the head office, at 555 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, and one branch, on Washington Street, in Chinatown, also in San Francisco, with assets of slightly over $80 million and a net worth of less than $10 million. Under Dr. Kung's leadership, the Bank grew rapidly. By the time he retired as the Chairman and CEO of the Bank in 1985, there were seven branches and one branch in organization, and assets over $600 million. Under Dr. Kung, the Bank successfully redeveloped its old head office into the Bank of Canton of California Building, despite great difficulties. The Building still generates almost $4 million of annual net income for the Bank today. By the time Mr. Eric H. Wen, the last (independent) Chairman and CEO, took over the Bank in 1999, 14 years after Dr. Kung's retirement, there were still eight branches, and assets had only grown to $820 million. Under Mr. Wen's stewardship, the Bank resumed its rapid growth once more, reaching $1.3 billion in assets in 2001 and expanding to 12 branches, statewide. In 2002, the Bank was sold by its shareholders to the United Commercial Bank Holdings of San Francisco, for approximately $220 million, at a huge profit. Such a profit would not have been possible without the firm financial foundations built by Dr. Kung during his tenure.

Dr. Kung was a most professional banker and took his work most seriously. The Bank of Canton of California was practically his whole life from 1972 until his retirement. He always felt responsible for not only the Bank but also all its employees. To the Bank and its employees, he was like the patriarch of a large extended family. However, he was never satisfied with the status quo--he was always forward-looking and a perpetual innovator. In addition to developing the headquarters building, he also led the Bank into leasing activities and established an offshore subsidiary to serve overseas clients. He introduced risk management and emphasized the importance of avoiding maturing mismatch long before the rest of the banking industry paid any attention to it. Under Dr. Kung, the Bank of Canton was one of the first financial institutions to outsource the management of its investments.

Dr. Kung understood and appreciated the importance of education and of training. Under Dr. Kung, the Bank supported scholarships at the University of California, Berkeley, and provided ample training opportunities to the employees. Dr. Kung has also given generously to his alma maters, to Stanford University (in part to support my research), and other educational and charitable organizations. Dr. Kung was an academic at heart. He valued research highly, and enjoyed doing it himself. He wrote extensively, including a book on the history of the Bank of China. After his retirement, he would often visit Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley to use the collections at their libraries for his research.

Dr. Kung was an internationalist-he was educated in both China and the United States. His long and distinguished career spanned several continents. He traveled widely and invested internationally.

Dr. Kung was a person of the highest integrity and maintained the highest ethical principles. He was also a person of great wisdom and compassion. He was always strongly supportive of his colleagues and friends. He was extremely generous to others, but extremely frugal to himself. During his tenure at the Bank of Canton, he never gave himself a raise. He embodied the best qualities of the East and the West. He led a most exemplary life, and was a model of inspiration for us all.