American Annals of the Deaf

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I first met Angel in 2004 when I was a student on the search committee that brought her to Teachers College as Assistant Professor in our Program in the Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH). I'll never forget how she arrived at TC in the early afternoon for her first round of interviews and meetings. Unfortunately, due to an airline error her luggage did not arrive with her. On her second day, still with no luggage, an errant cab driver picked her up at her hotel and mistakenly took her downtown instead of uptown, causing her to arrive very late for her meeting with our then–college president, Susan Fuhrman. While both of these events—no clean clothes and a missed appointment with the president—would have unnerved most of us, Angel took it in stride. As a lifelong New Yorker, ever anxious and perpetually on edge, I was incredibly impressed.

Angel stayed with us for 3 wonderful years, before moving on to become Director of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing [End Page 76] Program at Missouri State University, where she remained until returning to us at Teachers College in 2014 to assume the leadership of the DHH program after Dr. Robert Kretschmer's retirement. I was again on the search committee and sadly still a student. This time Angel's plane was delayed due to a snowstorm, and then there was a fire drill in Thorndike Hall in the middle of her job talk. Again, Angel never broke a sweat. How could there be a person like this? I thought.

Angel always exuded a magical sense of calm. She came from across the world, all by herself as a young woman, to a new country, a new language, and a new life. She got a PhD, married, had two wonderful children, Amy and Stone, whom she adored, and built a life here through sheer grit. Her courage and resolve were fierce, but she was also ever so graceful. And though she was brilliant and talented in so many ways, she had the smallest ego of anyone I have ever known. This second time she came to TC, she said to me, "You're still a student! No, no, you are going to finish!" And within a year, I did.

Angel was good at getting things done, and even better at making sure that her students got things done. And the things she made us get done always made us look better. One of her most exceptional traits was a quiet inner confidence that was derived from letting others shine. To give you some examples, she would walk into my office and say something like, "Maria, I think it's time for you to write a chapter," or "I think it's time for you to apply for a grant," or "I think you should go to this conference and represent our program." And then I would write the chapter, apply for the grant, and go to the meeting. Her leadership style always involved letting other people take center stage.

Angel modeled what she expected from her students in word and action. She taught quietly, she wrote with precise attention to detail, and she invited us to do it all with her. Instead of promoting herself, she focused on cultivating excellence in others. She would step back, giving us the freedom to do the work our way, and she trusted us to not let ourselves down. In stepping back, she empowered us and gave us our voice. In the midst of grueling doctoral travails, we couldn't realize it, but she was growing both our confidence and our competence. In stepping back and letting us step forward, she created more leaders around her. Isn't that what teachers do?

Angel was a conduit of illumination. She didn't need the spotlight; instead, she let others shine. She didn't look for acclaim but made sure we all got it. For her, the end results of our collective gains were so much more important than her own personal glory.

—Maria C. Hartman (PhD, 2015; Lecturer & Practicum Coordinator)

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Dr. Wang oversaw countless research studies and authored numerous books, chapters, and peer-reviewed articles. But to me, that list of publications tells a deeper story. Very few of her chapters and articles bear her name alone. Instead, they reveal Dr. Wang's true legacy through the people she touched during her too-short career. She collaborated on studies and writing projects with colleagues around the globe; her list of coauthors spans disciplines, from reading development to neuroscience. For nearly every publication, among that list of impressive coauthors is at least one less well-known name: that of one of her students. Dr. Wang truly championed all of us who were fortunate enough to have her as our mentor. She generously shared opportunities to write chapters, design studies, and review manuscripts that she could easily have taken credit for herself. She was happy and proud to be part of the "et al." [End Page 77] if it meant giving her students experience and exposure. Dr. Wang used asterisks on her CV to indicate projects with student authors. If I did the same to highlight all the publications that came as a direct result of her sharing her own opportunities with me, nearly everything would be starred. I am so grateful that she believed in me before I believed in myself.

—Elaine R. Smolen (PhD, 2020)

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Dr. Wang swooped into my life like nothing less than an angel—she gave me a job, swiftly guided my aspirations into a dissertation focused on reading achievement in deaf people, assisted me in publishing and presenting my research, and inspired our award-winning Deaf Music Project at Teachers College. And so much more. You know that feeling when someone believes in you, and it turns your whole life around? That was it. My story is one of many among the lives she has impacted in such gentle and fierce ways. It is such a grave loss for our program, our field, and especially for her family and young children. Despite the incredible loss we are grieving, I know that all of us are experiencing overwhelming gratitude for having known her and been inspired and uplifted by her kindness, her devotion to the rights and scholastic experiences of deaf people, and her expectation that we serve the world as the best humans we can possibly be. Thank you, Dr. Wang, for being part of this world.

—Julia Silvestri (PhD., 2016)

Not all heroes wear capes; some are just armed with a brilliant mind and a compassionate heart. I first encountered "Ye Wang" as a name in an article I read when I was looking for ways to teach reading to my Deaf college students 10 years ago. Thus, Dr. Wang was already one of my "heroes" even before she became my adviser. What stood out for me was the fact that she "saw" her students. She encouraged me to pursue a research area I love even though it was outside her comfort zone. Just a week before she passed away, I wrote in my journal that the best compliment I ever received was from her. She said that I was the most hardworking and sweetest student she had ever worked with. For a professor who had mentored so many brilliant minds, that was very high praise. But what I took from that compliment was the "hardworking" part. She saw my struggles and understood that for me to submit a simple paper I had to read twice as much as my classmates because I needed to understand the background of the reading. I can never fathom how she could believe so much in her students to accomplish things bigger than us. Her unwavering belief enabled us to accomplish things we once only dreamed of. They say you should never meet your heroes because you will just end up disappointed, but that was never the case with Dr. Wang.

—Marian Patricia Bea Francisco (PhD, 2020)

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People don't realize that the relationship between an adviser and their advisee can be an intimate one. However, Dr. Wang and I didn't start off that way. I remember beginning my first day of class with her as my professor and having a chip on my shoulder then. We had nothing in common, or so I assumed. Needless to say, I was proven wrong. It was then that I learned to truly embrace the idea that there was no one right way to teach Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and that research should be more about uncovering the many ways for them to be literate instead. To Dr. Wang, the more literate adults we [End Page 78] had in the world, the better—regardless of the method used.

As time went by, our meetings went from having many adults in her small office to one-on-one meetings with just us. We had found a method to communicate in our own way and had many wonderful philosophical and theoretical discussions that sometimes lasted an hour or so. Frequently, our conversations would be filled with laughter, as I think we were each other's best audience—she understood my humor as I did hers. It wasn't until she came into the Fishbowl, the glass-walled conference room where many of our classes met, a few days after my proposal hearing, and shared that she had talked to Dr. Paul (her former adviser), telling him that the approval of my dissertation proposal made her feel like a proud parent, that I knew our relationship was special.

Just recently, I've been given compliments on how much I've accomplished in the short time I've been in academia. All I can say is that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree—much of the credit goes to Dr. Wang. Every time I'm offered a teaching, scholarship, or service opportunity, I always ask myself, "What would Dr. Wang do/say?" You are missed, and you've left a huge void in everyone's hearts, Dr. Wang.

—Onudeah "Oni" Nicolarakis (PhD, 2020)

On the way of exploring special education and learning how to become an educator and a researcher, Dr. Wang guided me to approach the answer with her kind trust and caring support. One unexpected gift in this journey was that she wrote a book of being a legendary adviser and mentor in my heart. Among the more than 10,000 e-mails I had with her since I met her, she always sent me a reply, even a thumb-up, when I said "Thank you, professor," or "You too" when I said "Thank you." Those countless replies always warmed my heart and told me how humble and kind she was to her students. When I struggled about my work and future, I saw her reply to my paper revisions with detailed suggestions and feedback, always with encouragement.

I remember a moment when Dr. Wang and I went to the TC Café to buy tea. After I paid for her order, she handed me $5, smiled, and said, "You still need money for school, and let me buy this to support your library time this afternoon." Those small and simple moments composed powerful chapters of the book in my heart. I will carry on this book of legacy through time, to meet my students in the future and to become a better person to this world.

—Lingyun (Elune) Shi (PhD, 2020)

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Every memory I have of Dr. Wang brings a smile to my face. She was the guiding light I needed at a very specific point in my doctoral studies. Her advice was always fruitful—never easy, but always fruitful. She gave of herself often to support her students' endeavors, and I am grateful to have been a recipient of that selflessness.

One particular advising session in her office comes to my mind. We were sitting at her round table, she was effortlessly reciting noteworthy aspects of recently read articles, I was feverishly typing everything she was saying, and in walks her son, Stone. I thought to myself, "All this and a mother!" A few short years later, I walked across the stage with my baby in my arms. Dr. Wang's lead-by-example passionate nature left an immeasurable impact on my life. I am forever grateful for her steadfast belief in me.

—Ronda Rufsvold (PhD, 2018) [End Page 79]

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I first met Dr. Wang nearly 20 years ago when she was giving a job talk for a visiting faculty line at Teachers College. I was early in my doctoral program then, and I remember being struck by her poise and intensity, traits not often matched so gracefully. She spoke with warmth and admiration of her father, of his intelligence and grit, as she revealed the same qualities in herself. Later that afternoon I saw her with a child on each arm, and I recall my wonderment that such a thing was possible: that a young woman could be a scholar and a mother, too. That image of Dr. Wang and her children, hand in hand in a corridor in Horace Mann Hall, has stayed with me as a vision of what's possible even as I raise my own children and try to maintain the balance.

Years later, I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Wang on a manuscript and to learn from her, once again, of possibilities. Her poise, intensity, and warmth remained, and she drew from them all as she orchestrated a lengthy revise-and-resubmit process across several authors. This is how it's done, I thought, and tucked away the vision for some later time when I would need to call upon it, the way I'd called upon her mother scholarship as a model. My interactions with Dr. Wang were brief, but poignant, and I will be forever grateful.

—Amanda Howerton-Fox (PhD, 2013)

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When I think of Dr. Wang, a myriad of images and memories come to mind. I see her providing free professional development for my school as a thank-you gift. I hear her say "now" when I asked when I should return to finish my doctorate after a 3-year hiatus, as we sat on the infamous couches in front of the elevators of Thorndike Hall's fifth floor. I picture her son sitting quietly doing his homework at a side table in her office every time I stopped in with a question. I see her e-mails with comments about revisions, more revisions, and even more revisions needed as I plugged away on each chapter of my dissertation. I hear her soft but steady voice as she named people I might want to ask to sit on my dissertation committee. I see e-mail replies within minutes.

Dr. Wang was a dream adviser for any doctoral candidate. While she challenged us to design and write studies that met any gold standard for peer review, her presence was calming. We all exited the Deaf Ed doctoral program at Teachers College under her tutelage prepared for a smooth defense and with publications on our CVs. Dr. Wang's former students now teach in higher education around the country, continue to publish, and lead schools and programs for the Deaf. This is part of the legacy Dr. Wang left to our beloved field.

—Jodi L. Falk (PhD, 2017)

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Over the years that I knew Dr. Wang, her relationship with me evolved from an encouraging professor to a relentless adviser to a steadfast confidant. She helped me grow as an educator, a researcher, and, last but not least, as a human being. Dr. Wang valued ambition and recognized our strengths; this set her apart as a mentor and an adviser. She accomplished so much in her young life; her passion and dedication to the field were beautifully illustrated and serve as an inspiration to us all. My memories of her are filled with her words of encouragement and her smile. While this is a tremendous loss to our field and community, the legacy and lessons she left will live on in her students and her kids. I am incredibly blessed by her guidance and inspiration.

—Sonia Arora (PhD, 2018)

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I first met Dr. Angel Wang in the spring of 2005, as a student representative on her interview committee. Our research interests overlapped. We were both passionate about underutilized visual systems to teach reading. I research a system called Cued Speech, [End Page 80] and Dr. Wang specialized in Visual Phonics. The systems are similar in that handshapes represent the phonemes of spoken languages. For 16 years we taught our similar approaches, year after year, to students interested in sign language and culture or listening and spoken-language strategies, but she never wavered in continuing both courses, out of her belief in a comprehensive and inclusive approach to education, for all students, not just some students.

Over the 16 years I knew Angel, she became a nationally recognized and highly published expert on phonology and deafness. She published numerous articles and supported dozens of doctoral students. Her publications helped bring phonics instruction to residential schools for the deaf. She modified our program requirements to enable more students to enroll, ultimately bringing more educators into the field. I am shocked and without many words at a life cut so short, with so much left to offer. The volume of thought and publications she contributed in such a short time, and at such a young age, is unparalleled. I am overwhelmed by her loss and by the lessons we will have to learn without her guidance.

—Jennifer Montgomery (PhD, 2013)

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I did not have the opportunity to learn from Angel in a traditional sense, as she began her professorship at Teachers College after I had completed my PhD. I knew of her—I often heard faculty and peers reference the name "Angel" in the rooms and hallways of the college—but only met her several years after I had graduated and needed assistance preparing my dissertation for publication. At the time I was early in my tenure-track position at a nearby college and knew that a big step toward achieving tenure included publishing the mammoth qualitative study I had done as a doctoral student. I needed guidance in so many areas: selecting a journal, writing a cover letter, formatting the paper, organizing the data, trimming 200 pages to a publishable 45. Angel did not know me, but I knew her. Every close friend I had from my doctoral studies advised me to reach out to her for help, and I did. Seemingly without hesitation, she agreed enthusiastically to mentor me through the process.

When I met with Angel in person for the first time, I expected to feel intimidated. Instead, I felt calm. She made me aware of the tremendous amount of work I had ahead of me, but she also made me feel that it was achievable. I knew she would be by my side throughout the process. And for the next 2 years, she was. She answered every e-mail, improved upon every draft with her feedback, and stayed with me until the very end, when the paper was finally accepted for publication in the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. I am in disbelief that she is no longer here to mentor the next generation of deaf education scholars. But her memory, and the impact she made on her students and mentees, will be a blessing on the deaf education field and will certainly guide those of us who knew her to carry out her legacy.

—Michelle A. Veyvoda (PhD, 2013)

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Dr. Wang was the doctoral adviser students dream of: patient and supportive, giving independence and guidance in equal measure. Despite her many accomplishments, she remained immune to egoism and allergic to self-promotion. Like the best of teachers, she was far more concerned about her students' accomplishments than her own, and she had boundless faith in our ability to accomplish great things. Her memory is a blessing to all who knew her, and her legacy will live on in the teaching, research, and service of her many students. As a researcher, teacher, mentor, and mother, she set the bar high. May we rise to it.

—Elizabeth A. Rosenzweig (PhD, 2020) [End Page 81]