Born 26 April 1917. He was educated at St John's Middle School, Shanghai, China. He emigrated to the United States in 1935, was naturalized in 1948. He studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, B. Arch. 1940; Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, Massachusetts, M.Arch. 1946. He served on the National Defense Research Committee, 1943-1945. He was an Instructor, later Assistant Professor, at Harvard Graduate School of Design, 1945-1948. He was director of architecture at Webb and Knapp, New York, 1948-1955. He was a Partner in I.M. Pei & Partners, New York, 1955-1989. He was a partner, Pei, Cobb, Freed and Partners, 1989. He retired officially on 1 January 1991, but continues to work with a lighter load. American architect; since 1955, Partner, I. M. Pei & Partners, New York; since 1989, partner in Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.