(The following text is an excerpt from the book Chinese Americans in Irvine 1971-2021.)
Born in Beijing to Pei-Yu and Yu-Jean Chao, Ms. Kiang studied at the National Taiwan University and Marywood College in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She later moved to NYC where she worked as data programmer for IBM World Trade. From 1964 to 1968, Ms. Kiang served as a librarian in the East Cleveland Public Library, and in 1965, she married Wan-Lin Kiang, and had one son, Eliot. The family moved back to Taiwan in the ‘70s.
Starting in 1996, Ms. Kiang has served as vice president, senior financial consultant, and wealth management adviser at Merrill Lynch. In November 2017, Marquis Who’s Who, the world’s premier publisher of biographical profiles, named Assumpta “Amy” Kiang a Lifetime Achiever, in recognition for her leadership qualities and successes she accrued in her field.
Philanthropy
Ms. Kiang later set up a family foundation. She has donated a rotunda to Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA, endowed the Kiang lectureship at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), established the Wan-Lin Kiang International Financial Research Center at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. She has supported numerous international financial publications in cooperating with the Wan-Lin Kiang Research Center as well as with the Institute of Finance and Banking of the Chinese Academy of Social Science, Beijing, China. Ms. Kiang also supported various scholarships for business students who needed financial help.
As a prominent Chinese American, Ms. Kiang served with leaders of the WLK International Finance Center, the Institute of Finance and Banking at the Chinese Academy and Council for the Department of Social Science at UCI. From 1980 to 1982, she served with the women’s league of California State University in Long Beach. Ms. Kiang is a member of the American Association of University Women, the Chinese Business Association Society of California, the Chinese American Professional Women’s League, the Pacific Rim Investment and Trade Association, Old Ranch Country Club, and the Center Club, where she served as a director with the executive women’s council of Orange County. She was one of the founders of Pan Pacific Performing Arts, Inc. and served as president and chairperson for three terms until 2015. In 2010, she hosted a seminar in China for European business leaders, and in 2008, she held a conference for leaders in the Chinese gold industry.
Involvement at UCI
The Wan-Lin Kiang Endowed Lecture Series was established in 2003 by Ms. Assumpta Kiang in memory of her husband, Wan-Lin Kiang, a noted international scholar, political advisor and businessman. The series annually brings to campus a noted scholar on relevant topics related to China.
Ms. Assumpta Kiang serves on the Dean’s Board of Councilors for the UCI School of Social Sciences and is a member of the UCI Chancellor’s Club. (Courtesy of Tracy L. Arcuri)
(以下文字摘錄自《爾灣華裔紀實1971-2021》一書)
江趙蘭潤於 2003 年在爾灣加大創立江萬齡紀念講座，講座以亞洲為中心，由爾灣加大社會科學院及人文學院聯合主辦，邀請來自世界各地的學者擔任主講人，也曾安排跨越學院的熱門人物現身說法。江萬齡紀念講座不僅提供學者專家交流的機會，也吸引許多關注亞洲事務的社區人士參與，有助於促進學術合作，並帶動重視亞洲研究的風氣。
曾任中華開發公司總經理的江萬齡，台大機械工程系畢業後來美深造，獲 Case Western Reserve 大學博士，他雖是學者出身，卻熱衷於國際金融、創業投資等實務，返台擔任中華開發公司總經理十年（1983-1992）期間，適逢台灣經濟轉型，江萬齡引進美式財務金融管理策略，栽培台灣首批創投界菁英，推動 80年代台灣高科技產業的蓬勃成長。後來他轉往中國大陸，拿到中國官方核發的三張創業投資執照，並成立漢世紀創投公司，正準備開拓大中華經濟圈創投市場之際，卻因心臟病於 65 歲遽逝。
江萬齡在 2002 年去世之前，工作重心雖在亞洲，但因家人定居南加州，讓他成了經常往返太平洋兩岸的「空中飛人」，他也曾多次應邀擔任美西華人學會主講人，毫不藏私的分析兩岸三地經濟趨勢，顯現他對祖國發展殷切的期盼。江趙蘭潤在悲痛中毅然決定，以江萬齡留下的退休金成立紀念講座，延續他所倡導的創新理念，鼓勵來自不同領域的學者專家交流合作，希望以此帶動重視亞洲研究的風氣。除了對外公開的講座，江趙蘭潤還安排本地學者與主講人餐敘，增進各國專家間的情誼。
從 2004 年迄今，曾主講江萬齡講座的已有 18 位專家學者，其中最令江趙蘭潤印象深刻的就是首屆主講人唐飛。江趙蘭潤說，江萬齡生前即與唐飛熟識，兩人都秉持以國家為重的使命感，唐飛在卸任行政院長後，曾刻意保持低調，不發表與政治相關的言論，直到 2004 年受邀為江萬齡紀念講座首屆主講人，他才打破沈默，分析他對海峽兩岸政局的看法，直言不諱的評論當年 3 月 19 日「兩顆子彈」事件對台灣與全球政壇的衝擊。
第二屆主講人中國科學院-清華大學國情研究中心主任胡鞍鋼，是對中國決策高層極具影響力的學者，由爾灣加大政治系教授 Dorothy Solinger 出面邀請。第三屆主講人李揚，是江萬齡在北京熟識的經濟學家，也是中國社會科學院副院長，對國際金融與貨幣市場有深入研究，他從中國的觀點出發，探討中美外匯的爭議，受到西方學者專家的重視。
第七屆主講人史丹福大學胡佛研究所研究員郭岱君，從 2010 年才剛公諸於世的蔣介石日記，重新詮釋中國現代史的重要事件與人物，曾在學術圈及新聞媒體上掀起有關當代政壇的話題與辯論。
江萬齡紀念講座歷年主講人包括：唐飛、胡鞍鋼、李揚、Barry Naughton、Ronald Knapp、Carl
Riskin、郭岱君、胡永泰（Wing Thye Woo）、李靜君（Ching Kwan Lee）、陳金永（Kam Wing Chan）、楊雅南（Anand Yang）、彭慕蘭（Kenneth Pomeranz）、余寶琳（Pauline Yu）、栗山茂久（Shigehisa Kuriyama）、林夏如（Syaru Shirley Lin）、徐善曾（Tony Hsu）、宋怡明（Michael Szonyi）及葉文心 （Wen-Hsin Yeh）。受新冠疫情影響，2020 及 2021 兩年改以線上講座方式進行。
爾灣加大在 2013 年江萬齡紀念講座十週年時，特別出版收集歷年講座照片的專刊，以感謝江趙蘭潤對該校長期的支持。（蕭迪玉撰文）