Chiang Chung Mei

Prof. Chiang Chung Mei, an academic scholar of global renown and loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and uncle, passed away peacefully at home in Waltham, Massachusetts on July 16, 2026, at the age of 91. Born on April 4, 1935, in Wuchang, Hubei Province, China, Chiang Chung was the only son and first-born child of Ju-Long Mei and Wu Yu-Ling (originally Wu Yu-Xiu).

Known professionally as C.C. Mei, Prof. Mei enjoyed an exceptionally brilliant and broad-ranging academic career in civil and environmental engineering. After earning his Ph.D. from Caltech, he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty in 1965 and remained at MIT until his retirement in 2010. Early in his career, Professor Mei developed foundational theoretical models of ocean wave dynamics that paved the way for modern approaches to coastal engineering. His research on wave propagation continues to guide engineering solutions to some of the world’s most complex ocean-based environmental challenges, including coastal defenses against storms and oil spill response strategies. During his research career spanning more than 45 years, Professor Mei authored nearly 300 publications that have generated over 14,000 citations. His excellence and leadership in research and teaching earned numerous prestigious recognitions, including induction into the National Academy of Engineering and appointment as a Ford Professor of Engineering at MIT. Since 2015, MIT has honored Professor Mei’s legacy of creative interdisciplinary research by featuring scholars from a wide range of disciplines in the C.C. Mei Distinguished Speaker Series in the MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.

In all aspects of his life, Chiang was passionate, playful, endlessly curious, verbally expressive, generous, and loyal. The home that he shared with his wife Caroline was a gathering place full of warmth, conversation and humor for generations of Mei and Schmitt relatives, the Garcia de Motiloa Ubis family, as well as his MIT colleagues and students. His family and friends will miss Chiang’s animated expressions and exclamations, as well as his loving banter and bickering with his spouse and siblings.

Chiang is survived by his wife, Caroline (Schmitt) Mei of Waltham; his daughter Deborah Yupin Mei (Juan Ignacio Garcia De Motiloa Ubis) of Singapore; his sisters Helen Chiang-Hua Mei Chao of Potomac, MD; Teresa Chiang-Ming Mei Wu of Bethesda, MD; Heidi Chiang-Kuo Mei Hsia (Jack) of Potomac, MD; and Christine Chiang Ying Mei (Paul Tung) of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA; his beloved grandchildren Juan Ignacio Jr. and Lauren; and many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

Family and friends will honor and remember Chiang’s life by gathering for an Afternoon Wake in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20),Waltham on Sunday, July 19th from 2 to 4 p.m. and again at 9 a.m. on Monday morning, 20th July before leaving in procession to Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Church, 880 Trapelo Road, Waltham where his Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham. Thereafter, there will be a gathering at the family home, 42 Mallard Way, Waltham from 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to MIT in memory of Professor Chiang Mei to the Chiang and Caroline Mei Fund (3947210). Credit card gifts may be made using the following link: https://giving.mit.edu/Chiang-Mei. Checks may be made payable to MIT and mailed to: MIT, P.O. Box 412926, Boston, MA 02241-2926, Attn: Memorial Gifts Office. Please include the fund name in the memo line or cover note; or to Our Lady’s Parish, 920-R Trapelo Road, Waltham MA 02452 www.olca.org.