Jensan Tsai's Obituary
Jensan Tsai, aged 85, of Alameda died at Oakland Highland Hospital on July 6th, 2023 due to respiratory failure and brain injury.
He was born on April 16th, 1938 in Taiwan. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Taiwan Normal University in 1960. After graduation, he served in the Taiwanese military from 1960-1962 as a Lieutenant in the Army. Upon discharge, he taught high school physics for two years. Subsequently, he attended Tokyo University where he obtained a Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1967. He returned to Taiwan and married Kerry Tsai in 1968.
He joined the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Tsinghua University in 1967 as an Instructor, conducting research in computational semiconductor physics. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1971, and then Full Professor in 1974. He spent his sabbatical year in 1976 at UC Berkeley studying nuclear fission. From 1974 to 1983, he served as the Chair of his department. After teaching for 25 years, he retired from Tsinghua University in 1991 at the age of 53, and immigrated to the US to join his family who immigrated to the US a decade earlier. For nearly the next 30 years, he spent his time working at the family restaurant: Johnathan’s Sandwich House.
Jensan is survived by his wife Kerry of 54 years, his two sons Andy and Billy Tsai, his daughter in-laws Emy Chen and Josephine Tsai, and grandchildren Holden, Atticus, Anderson, Abigail, Carmel, and Ronia.
A visitation will be held on July 19th, 2023 at 11:30 a.m. at Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo.
What’s your fondest memory of Jensan?
What’s a lesson you learned from Jensan?
Share a story where Jensan's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Jensan you’ll never forget.
How did Jensan make you smile?