| Sang Whang | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 황상연[1] |
| Revised Romanization | Hwang Sang-yeon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hwang Sang'yŏn |
Sang Whang was a Korean American community leader and politician in Florida. The eldest of four children, he emigrated to the United States in December 1951 at the age of 20, arriving at San Francisco by ship.[2] After arriving, he enrolled in the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn to study electrical engineering; he received his bachelor's degree in 1956, and his master's from the same school in 1966.[3] He met his wife Mary, who was born in Pyongyang, while a student there; she had emigrated to the States along with her father, who worked with the U.S. Army in Korea.[4] He was the founder and first president of the Korean Association of Greater Miami.[1] In 1976, he became an elder at the Korean Presbyterian Church of Miami.[5] His wife died in 1995 after a ten-year battle with lung disease.[4] In 1998, he received the Essie Silva Community Builder Award from the United Way of America's Miami-Dade branch.[6] In 1999, he became the first Asian American to serve as chairman of the county Community Relations Board, which was established in 1963.[7] He is especially interested in promoting better relations between the Korean American and African American communities, an issue which became of greater concern to him in the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.[2]
Apart from his political activities, Whang runs his own business, Alkalife, which promotes alternative health practices such as the use of far infrared radiation to promote growth and health of living cells.[8] He has self-published a book entitled Aging and Reverse Aging, about the alleged health benefits of high-alkaline water and other alternative health practices.[9]
Sang Whang (October 16, 1931 - January 24, 2011) was a Korean American church leader and community advocate in Florida. The eldest of four children, he emigrated to the United States in December 1951 at the age of 20, arriving at San Francisco by ship.[2] After arriving, he enrolled in the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn to study electrical engineering; he received his bachelor's degree in 1956, and his master's from the same school in 1966.[3] He met his wife Mary, who was born in Pyongyang, while a student there; she had emigrated to the States along with her father, who worked with the U.S. Army in Korea.[4]
In addition to being an engineer, he was a scientist and an inventor with many U.S. patents. His fields of expertise spanned from areas such as data communication devices (modem), electronic filters, chemistry, water, to cornea measuring devices, and multi-focal contact lenses.
Whang was the Vice President of Research at a large telecommunications company in South Florida, a company that he rescued from bankruptcy by his invention of the high-speed modem in 1966. From 1968-1988, he participated in the development of international standards on data communications at CCITT (Consultative Committee on International Telegraph and Telephone), a UN organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
He was part of the United States delegation representing the State Department and is listed in 'Who's Who' in the South and Southwest.
Whang's community and political work started when he moved to South Florida in 1964. In 1965, he was the founder and first president of the Korean Association of Greater Miami.[1] In 1976, he became an elder at the Korean Presbyterian Church of Miami. Since then, he had become active in local community organizations such as: Asian-American Federation of Florida, Asian Arts Festival (Homestead), Festival of Asia (Delray Beach), Korean American Community Relations Council of Florida, Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, Miami Korean Chamber of Commerce, Korea Americas Society of South Florida, Art Renaissance Foundation (Arizona), Korean Cultural Foundation of Greater Miami, Chinese American Benevolent Association, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Miami-Dade County Sister City Program, and Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board. Mr. Whang was the first Asian-American to serve on the Miami-Dade Community Relations Board and served as the Chair-Elect for the year 2000.[5] His wife died in 1995 after a ten-year battle with pulmonary fibrosis.[4] In 1998, he received the Essie Silva Community Builder Award from the United Way of America's Miami-Dade branch.[6] In 1999, he became the first Asian American to serve as chairman of the Miami Dade County Community Relations Board, which was established in 1963.[7] He was especially interested in promoting better relations between the Korean American and African American communities, an issue which became of greater concern to him in the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.[2] The board of directors of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce voted him "Board Member of the Year 1996" for his fundraising efforts to provide college scholarships to African-American high school graduates. Whang devoted most of his time to the promotion and preservation of community peace and harmony among the different ethnic groups that call South Florida home.
Apart from his political activities, Whang ran his own business, Alkalife International, which continues to promote alternative health practices such as the use of far infrared radiation to promote growth and health of living cells.[8] He has self-published two books entitled 'Reverse Aging' and 'I'm OK, But What Happened to My Body?', about the alleged health benefits of high-alkaline water and other alternative health practices.[9]