Henry W. Luce

Who was Henry W. Luce?

Henry Winters Luce was an American missionary and educator in China. He was the father of the publisher Henry R. Luce.

Henry W. Luce graduated from Yale University in 1892. After graduation, he stayed at Union Seminary in New York for 2 years, before his seminary training at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1896.

Luce was ordained in 1897 and sent to China by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in the same year. In total, he spent 31 years in the country, where his four children, including Henry R. Luce, were born.

Luce was a professor at Cheeloo University in Jinan, China, where he led fundraising efforts and served as vice president for a short time. He also helped to initiate the Yale-in-China Association. In 1928, he accepted a professorship at the Kennedy School of Missions in Hartford, Connecticut. He held this position until his retirement in 1935 .

Luce Memorial Chapel, designed by I.M. Pei and situated on the campus of Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan, is named after Henry W. Luce. Construction of the chapel was sponsored by Henry R. Luce.