Chia-Yi "Charles" Yang's Obituary
July 2, 1970 – March 8, 2023
Age 52
Charles Yang passed away March 8th, 2023 at Stanford hospital surrounded by his family after a long battle with AML.
Charles was born in Taiwan, to Hsiu-Tsu Chen and Yan-Fu Yang on July 2nd 1970. After completing high school he was admitted National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan where he completed his BS degree in Engineering from the 1992. He moved to the United States to pursue his PhD degree in Material Science and Engineering in 1995. He was awarded a doctoral degree from Drexel University in 2000. Charles was an outstanding student and scholar and received many awards for his educational achievements.
Charles was an avid golfer, so much so that In 1998 he met Debbie Tseng in Philadelphia on a golf course and soon they were married in 2000. They welcomed a son, Jeremy, in 2004 and a daughter, Elexis, in 2005. Charles was a loving husband and a caring and devoted father. His Children were the light of his life and he enjoyed nothing more than an outing with his family or taking his children to their games.
Charles started his career in Merck & Co. in 2000. He subsequently moved to Amgen in 2005 and finally to Genentech in 2015. He rose to the position of Executive Director and Department Head of Small Molecule Pharmaceutics group in Genentech. He was an excellent scientist, a great manager and leader, a good friend, and a warm and caring person. Charles was passionate about his work and he contributed to the development of several medicines in his career. His colleagues remember him as an optimistic and positive person with huge smile that could light up a whole room!
Charles will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and colleagues.
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