The life Story of Prof. Sung-Peng Hsu

作者徐頌鵬

My name in English: Sung-Peng Hsu

My name in Chinese: 徐頌鵬

I was born in Taiwan in 1938. After graduating from National Taiwan University in 1960, majoring in philosophy, I came to the United States in 1962 to study Christian theology at Princeton Theological Seminary (B.D. in 1965 and Th.M. in 1966). Then, I went to the University of Pennsylvania and got my Ph.D. degree in 1970 in the field of world religions from the Department of Religious Studies.

I taught different courses in religion and philosophy at universities in Taiwan and the United States, including National Taiwan University, University of Delaware, and University of Northern Iowa. Then, I went through a metamorphosis and became a computer software engineer. My longest professional career was at MGC Diagnostics (formerly Medical Graphics Corporation) in St. Paul, Minnesota, a manufacturer of lung and heart testing equipment. After my retirement in 2003, I have been living in Maryland, near Washington, DC.

In spite of my changes in career, I have always been interested in religion and philosophy. During my early learning and teaching years, I was concerned mainly with historical and academic issues of the past, but afterwards I have become more and more interested in understanding religion and philosophy from the perspective of modern science and democratic society for the future.

It so happened that when I started my computer programming career in 1980s, the game “Pinball Construction Set” was very popular. I have wondered since then whether it would be possible or desirable to develop a computer program called “Religion Construction Set.” Some of those ideas show up here and there on this website.

My retirement has brought me back closer to the world of religion and philosophy. I have become active in two main organizations. The first is the Taiwanese American Senior Society in the Washington area, under which I served as the coordinator of a discussion group called “Life Enrichment Club” from 2009 to 2014. The other is the Unitarian Universalism, first at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church and later at River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Both organizations have asked me to give talks on Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. The PowerPoint presentations for these talks have been made available on this website.

In addition, I have become active in the Taiwanese American Photo Club of the Washington Metropolitan Area, led by Stephen Hung. In this way, I have been able to learn more about the natural and human worlds with a camera. Many photos on this website have come and will come from my participation in this photo club.