Otto Schnepp (1925 - January 2, 2019) was an Austrian-American scientist.
Born in Vienna into a Jewish family, he lived in Shanghai from 1939 to 1948, where he bounced between the Shanghai International Settlement and the French Concession as his father continued to practice medicine.[1] He spoke about his experiences in Shanghai as a featured witness in the documentary Above the Drowning Sea[2] He earned his B.S. in Chemistry at St. John's University in Shanghai (1947), A.B. (1948) and Ph.D. (1951) at University of California, Berkeley. He spoke German, Hebrew, French, Chinese[according to whom?][citation needed], and English.
Professor Schnepp researched the area of optical molecular spectroscopy. He also studied science and technology of modern China, U.S.-China technology transfer and physical chemistry. He was active in the field of Science Policy, especially as it concerned China.[3] He was a counselor for science and technology at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing from 1980 to 1982, and a former director of the USC East Asian Studies Center, 1994-2000.[4]
He received many honors, including the Superior Honor Award of the U.S. Department of State, USC Associates’ Award for Creative Scholarship and Research, and the USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award.[5]
Schnepp self-published Roots Lost, Roots Found,[6] a memoir of his life, in April, 2017. The cover was painted by Schnepp's granddaughter, Tali Burry-Schnepp.[6]
Otto Schnepp died on January 2, 2019, in Walnut Creek, California.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Shanghai's Jews Live to Tell Story at Last". Los Angeles Times. July 15, 1997.
- ^ Rico, Author (March 2017). "Witnesses".
{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ "Faculty & Staff > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences". dornsife.usc.edu.
- ^ "UCLA - International Institute ..::.. Error". www.international.ucla.edu.
- ^ "University of Southern California" (PDF).
- ^ a b Schnepp, Otto (2017-04-21). Roots Lost-Roots Found. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 9781545068885.
- ^ "In Memoriam: Otto Schnepp > News > USC Dornsife". dornsife.usc.edu. Retrieved 30 January 2019.