Lucy Chang

Lucy Shiaowen Chang was born in the Dominican Republic and spent her childhood in Costa Rica, where her father was an ambassador from Taiwan. After moving to the United States, she attended St. Mary’s High School in New Haven, Connecticut, and then completed a B.A. in biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.

At UC Berkeley, Lucy met Richard Graham (who was a chemistry graduate student), and they were married in 1985. Their two daughters are Samantha and Alexandra. Lucy was a coach, manager, and referee in Samantha’s and Alexandra’s local youth soccer and softball programs. Her love of sports, especially soccer, made her an ardent fan of college athletics (particularly UC Berkeley), as well as the NHL’s San Jose Sharks and the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. Lucy also loved nature and wildlife, especially national parks after a memorable summer as a Yosemite park ranger in college.

Lucy worked at biotech startup Cetus Corp in Berkeley for 16 years as a Research Associate, Manager of Technical Services, and Director of R&D Scientific Administration. On nights and weekends, she completed an executive MBA degree at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. After Cetus Lucy was a Director of Research Administration and Senior Financial Analyst for four years at the Stanford University School of Medicine managing research grants and contracts. She then worked at another biotech startup, Supergen, for 13 years as Senior Director of Intellectual Property and Legal Affairs. Concurrently, Lucy taught business administration courses at Clinton University as an Associate Professor and also passed the California Patent Bar exam to become a patent agent.

Lucy worked as a patent agent at the biotech firm XenoPort for ten years and then worked for Applied Materials until she retired. During this time, she was twice president of the Folk Dance Federation of California and then created her own group called Moveable Feet that held monthly folk dance parties, including a yearly fundraiser for the Second Harvest Food Bank and a popularly attended New Year’s Eve celebration.

Lucy passed away in early 2020 surrounded by her family and the families of her siblings David, Christine, and Caroline after a two-year struggle with colon cancer. We will all miss her vibrant energy, observant mind, and generous heart.