In 1922, Ling-Wen Hu was born in Nanjing, China. In 1943, he earned a bachelor’s degree in China, and in 1949, he earned a master’s degree from the University of Washington. He then earned his doctorate in engineering mechanics in 1952 from Penn State. In 1953, he married Ling Gut Wong. He was an assistant professor at Penn State from 1952 to 1956, an associate professor from 1956 to 1962 and a full professor from 1962 to 1984. He retired as professor emeritus in 1984. Because of his passion for stamp collecting, he joined the American Philatelic Society in 1973 and became a life member in May 2003. He loved to spend hours looking at the stamps available in the Circuit Sales department. After his death in 2007, that department was named after him in his honor. This fund benefits the American Philatelic Society (APS), located in Bellefonte. APS is the largest non-profit society in the world for stamp collectors.