Professor Tao-Chung Ted Yao Passed Away

09/23/2015

CLASS is deeply saddened to announce that Professor Tao-Chung “Ted” Yao passed away on Saturday, September 19. Professor Yao was recognized with a distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award from CLASS at the 2014 ACTFL/CLASS Convention on his guidance and support of the K-12 Chinese teaching field, and particularly for his decade long involvement with the AP Chinese Program and Exam. Among other honors, Professor Yao was the recipient of the 2010 Cheng and Tsui Walton Lifetime Achievement Award. Throughout Prof. Yao’s illustrious teaching career, he co-authored a series of very popular textbooks Integrated Chinese, was involved with the ETS SAT II-Chinese Achievement Test, became the first Chief Reader for the Chinese AP Test,developed Computer-Adaptive Test for Reading Chinese, and wrote extensively on the history of Quanzhen Daoism.

Professor Yao was one of the greatest leaders and teachers in our field. The passing of Prof. Yao is an immensurable loss. We will forever remember him in our hearts and carry out his legacy.