Marguerite S. Chang

Marguerite Shue-wen Chang (張葉學文; June 21, 1923 – May 5, 2012) was a Chinese-born American research chemist and inventor, awarded the Federal Woman's Award in 1973 for her work in the United States Naval Ordnance Laboratory, based in Maryland.

Personal life

Early life Marguerite Shue-wen Ye was born in Nanjing in 1923. She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry at Wuhan University. She earned a master's degree and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Tulane University, where she was an associate member of the Sigma Xi honor society. Her dissertation advisor was Joseph H. Boyer.

Adulthood Marguerite S. Chang was married to George K. Chang.

Career Chang moved to the United States in 1946. From 1959 she worked at the United States Naval Ordnance Laboratory in Maryland, developing propellants for missiles and rockets, working on safety procedures for the manufacture and use of propellants.

Chang's scientific publications included "The Identification of C32H20N4O8, a Product from Acetophenone and Nitric Acid" (Journal of the American Chemical Society 1960, with Joseph H. Boyer), and "Bis(cyclopropanecarbonyl)furoxan" (Journal of Organic Chemistry 1968, with James U. Lowe Jr.). alt=Isabella Karle, John Warner, and Marguerite Chang pose for a photo. Both women are holding awards. Karl is a white woman, smiling; Warner is a white man in a tuxedo; Chang is a Chinese woman with grey hair, smiling. Isabella Karle, John Warner (Secretary of the Navy), and Marguerite S. Chang, from a 1973 annual report of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Chang is included in Conversations 760-009 and 871-009 of the White House Tapes, in the Oval Office for a photo sessions with President Richard Nixon and others in August 1972 and March 1973. She was one of the six women to receive the Federal Woman's Award in 1973.