Pittsburgh, PA – Jin-Chen (J.C.) Su died peacefully on December 1, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His wife of 65 years, Chih-Wen, and three children were with him.
J.C. was born in Fengyang, Anhui Province in 1932, one of three sons of See-Chee Hu and Yih-Tzen Su. J.C. was the last surviving brother of older brothers Loh-Shih Hu and Ming-You Qi. J.C. grew up in Chengdu, Sichuan, where the family fled to during the Sino-Japanese War. After the civil war, the family moved to Taiwan. In 1960, J.C. married Chih-Wen Wang. The two had met while working at the Academica Sinica after college and reconnected in the U.S. where they pursued their graduate studies.
In 1962 under the guidance of Chung Tao Yang, J.C. completed his PhD in mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania. After positions at the University of Virginia, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, and National Taiwan University. J.C. joined the Math Department at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst where he served for over 40 years.
Above all else J.C. enjoyed mathematics, music, family, and the New York Times. After retiring he still enjoyed studying math recreationally. In addition, he spent time playing the violin (every morning at home and in concerts as part of the Pioneer Valley Symphony), reading the Times, and treating his family to whimsical email messages on a wide variety of subjects, from daily life to sardonic indictments of political current events. Often prime numbers were involved. While he was a jokester with a loud mouth, as well as a public speaker with impeccable comedic timing, at home he was a man of few words.
J.C. is survived by his wife Chih-Wen; his three children Karen Kai Yuan Su, Peter Pei Yuan Su, his wife Karen Van Dusen, Jeffrey Ji Yuan Su and his wife Francisca Pretorius; and four grandchildren Zeno, Lane, and Kai in the U.S. and Luka in South Africa. J.C. is also survived by nieces and nephews and many friends. Family and friends miss him, his knowledge and wisdom about human nature, his sharp sense of humor, and his virtuoso whistling.
In lieu of gifts and flowers the family asks to please give a donation to the Pioneer Valley Symphony. https://www.pvsoc.org/donate
Private services will be held June 13, 2026
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