Cheuk-Yiu Ng

Dr. Cheuk-Yiu Ng passed away peacefully on June 26, 2026, at the age of 78.

Born in the southern Guangdong Province of China and raised in Hong Kong, Cheuk moved to the United States in 1971 and studied at the University of Chicago before completing his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. Cheuk then began his academic career in 1977 appointed concurrently as a professor at Iowa State University and a chemist with the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. He joined the Chemistry department at the University of California, Davis, in 2001 and worked there until his retirement. From 2009-2012, he also served as Dean of the Faculty of Science at his undergraduate alma mater, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).

Many will remember Cheuk for his intellectual drive and commitment to scientific advancement, though everything he accomplished through his career and personal life was realized with his wife of 53 years, Mrs. Chui-Ling Ng. They met in their last year of high school and studied chemistry together at CUHK, immigrated and got married in the United States, and then raised three children in Iowa and in California. Their daily routines consisted of sit-down family meals followed by after-dinner walks around the neighborhood. They also enjoyed long hikes through Ledges State Park and walks at Ocean Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore, and Golden Gate Park with Smoki alongside, the family's beloved chow rescue. Wong Fei-Hung movies and the Butterfly Lovers violin concerto played on repeat at home. And indulging in Cheuk's fondness for both Pizza Hut super supreme pan pizza and Long John Silver's fish combo platters became part of the family's celebratory traditions, especially when his grown children returned to visit.

Wherever Cheuk's research took him around the world, he took his family. Their travels in such places as France, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong enriched their sense of the world as well as their responsibility to do good in it. Cheuk was deeply grateful for the influence and inspiration of his own teachers and pushed his academic colleagues, advisees, children, and grandchildren alike to always strive for the highest possible standards of integrity and achievement.

Cheuk was the oldest of four children and preceded in death by his father, Pak-Wong Ng, and mother, Sun-Ngar Leung. He is survived by two brothers, Chan-Yiu Ng and Siu-Yiu Ng, and a sister May (Fu). Additionally, he is survived by his wife, Chui-Ling (Wong) Ng; three children, Jennifer Ng, Joyce (Sumner), Peter Ng; and seven grandchildren.

Honoring Cheuk’s wishes to be cremated. A private family memorial will be scheduled at a later date in California. He will be buried in the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Coma, Ca. No formal visitations will be held although the family would welcome messages from those wishing to convey their condolences and fondest memories of Cheuk using the attached link.