Many Chinese women who got a college degree in the US before World War II went back to China to seek a career. There were few jobs in this country for educated Chinese of either sex, and in those days even educated white women could rarely find work as more than secretaries. Wang Chi Che (or Wang Chi Lian: 王季莲) was an exception, however. She graduated from Wellesley in 1914, a schoolmate of Mdm. Chiang Kai-shek. A scientist in chemistry and nutrition, she headed the blood department of the Michael Reese Hospital and was the chair of the Chemistry Department at Nelson-Morris Institution between 1920 and 1930. She eventually became a professor at Northwestern University. She co-founded the Chicago’s Chinese Women’s Club in 1915(?). The club apparently remained active until the late 1960s. She was a charter member of the American Institution of Nutrition. She died in 1979, at the age of 84. In 2004, years after her death, she even had a Chicago city park named after her (1).
(1) Chicago Sun-Times, 11 Mar 2004. The park — a very small one — is at 1762 W. Diversey Boulevard.