Rose Nan-Ping Chen

Rose Nan-Ping Chen was the daughter of Maria and Joseph Chen, born and raised in Taiwan but a proud global citizen.  She will return to Taiwan to rest with her parents.

Rose graduated from the National Taiwan University with a degree in agricultural chemistry in 1971 and immigrated to the United States to pursue her master's degree in medical microbiology at the University of Illinois Medical Center Chicago campus. She worked as a Research Associate at the University of Pennsylvania, Merck Research Laboratory, and Medical College of Virginia. After which she was a business owner for fifteen years.

Ms. Chen was a long-time devotee of arts, spirituality, and community service. She served on the boards of the Maymont Foundation, The Arts Council of Richmond, Communities in Schools and Friends of Comboni Missionary Sisters, Ikebana of Richmond, VA, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts' Multicultural Advisory Council, International Committee of Science History Institute, as well as an advisory panelist for Virginia Commission for the Arts. She is an alumna of Leadership Metro Richmond, class of 1998. 

Ms. Chen also served on the boards of the Center Stage Foundation and Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. She held memberships in the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, the Rotary Club of Washington DC, and the Citizen's Advisory Council on Furnishing and Interpreting the Executive Mansion by appointment of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. She was a member of Friends at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art since 2014.

Ms. Chen founded The Rose Group in 2002 to fulfill her lifelong commitment to promote multiculturalism in our society and fostering understanding and harmony between different cultures.  

The Rose Group’s flagship program is ChinaFest, an annual event at the University of Richmond and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts that draws >20,000 visitors over three days and is now in its 20th year.

The Rose Group’s broader mission is to connect US and Chinese cultural institutions together. During 2016-2018, Rose facilitated the first traveling exhibition of early American patent models from the Hagley Museum to China. “The Spirit of Invention” was a collaborative effort with Tsinghua School of Arts and Design, opening at the Tsinghua Art Museum then traveling to several museums across China, including the National Museum of China where it attracted close to one million viewers over two months.

Rose is survived by her two children, Jessica Horner and Julius Lai, who love and miss her dearly.

At Rose’s request, memorial services will not be held.  Instead, friends are encouraged to hold their own celebrations of life or attend ChinaFest, which is taking place in Richmond, VA Feb 6-8.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests that donations be made to The Rose Group, which will continue to serve worthy projects connecting US and Chinese cultures.

https://www.therosegroup.org/the_rose_group/support_us.htm 

All questions can be directed to julius@artshare.io.  Thank you for being a positive part of Rose’s life.