The Founding Family: David and Cecilia Ting

David Ting’s lifelong pursuit of learning and education goes back to 1949, when he was 16. He joined the Chinese Nationalist army and then evacuated to Taiwan. Intensive English language training provided by the Officers’ Language School followed along with self-education, David seized every chance to learn English. Retiring from the army at age 33 to join the China Productivity and Trade Centre, he became the Information and Publication Manager, responsible for the selection, translation and publication of the latest English language articles and books related to business and management. At 40, he launched his own business - ELKA International - a highly successful electronics parts and accessories trader and manufacturer.

On coming to Canada with his wife Cecilia and family in 1993, David Ting wanted to make a contribution to education in his new country and chose Simon Fraser University, believing strongly that “education can change one’s life”. The Ting children inherited this love of learning and the belief that knowledge of languages may “help improve human relations”: Mr. and Mrs. Ting’s elder son Eric enrolled in the English Language and Culture Program in 2001, their daughter Peggy took the Advanced Chinese Interpreter Program in 2001-2002 at SFU. In the summer of 2018, Eric’s daughter Chao Tung enrolled and completed the English Language and Culture (ELC) Program.

The connection and passion to their new home also influenced their children. Their youngest son, Roy, embraced this legacy by pursuing higher education, enrolling in the Master of Mathematics program at the University of Waterloo from 1993 to 1995. Continuing this tradition of academic excellence, their granddaughter Joyce is currently studying Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia. This progression highlights not only the family's commitment to education but also their successful integration and attachment to their new home.

The Ting family’s generous gift to Simon Fraser University is dedicated to language and cross-cultural education generally, and to the School of Criminology’s David and Cecilia Ting Forum on Justice Policy in particular, allowing hundreds of students and program participants from the justice system to share in David Ting’s passion for “lifelong learning”.