Room to Grow in Every Direction
Dean Peng and Sharon Wu Peng value education greatly. They were medical college classmates at Shanghai Medical University in China and came to the U.S. for graduate school at the State University of New York in Albany, where both earned PhDs in biomedical sciences.
After pursuing postdoctoral research at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, Dean decided to return to his passion for direct patient care. He did his residency in Philadelphia, followed by a fellowship in hematology/oncology in Houston at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Over this time, Sharon pursued medical research at Rockefeller University, then established her pharmaceutical/biotech consulting business. In 2003, they moved to San Diego with their two young children, Ashley ’15, who was then five, and Evan ’18, who was two. Dean joined Kaiser Permanente as a medical oncologist.
Both children thrived in the public schools initially, but eventually it was clear that Ashley and Evan, while having different personalities and learning styles, would both benefit from a school like Bishop’s. “I was worried that Ashley was such a systematic learner that she might not step outside of her box,” explains Sharon. “Meanwhile, Evan was bored and begging me to homeschool him.”
Sharon and Dean were hoping for a school that would help Ashley and Evan grow in multiple directions. “I remember filling out the application that Bishop’s gives to parents,” says Sharon. “It asked, ‘What type of education do you want for your kids?’ I wrote that we wanted more than just academics or even sports, arts and small classroom settings. We want them to care not only about knowledge and grades, but also to think about the community, the society, the country, the world.” As Dean puts it, “You might say that the subjects they study are secondary, or what they imagine for a career, which can change. The important part is the foundation.”
“We wanted them to care not only about knowledge and grades, but also to think about the community, the society, the country, the world.”
—Sharon Peng
At Bishop’s, Ashley encountered a more creative way of learning, one that asked her to experiment with different solutions, even if it meant risking a mistake. She joined the Bishop’s Singers and discovered volleyball, working her way through the team levels to be a varsity starter and to play in college. She uncovered math abilities at Bishop’s that blossomed at Wellesley, leading her to double major in math and economics. Evan “loved Bishop’s from day one,” as Sharon puts it, where he could feed his ever-expanding curiosity, which included singing in the choir and playing on the volleyball team. Working on the Globe Magazine, Evan discovered a love of journalism, which he continued to pursue for a master’s degree at Stanford, after earning a bachelor’s in linguistics with minors in creative writing and computer science.
Today, Ashley is a strategy and product specialist for the quantitative trading firm Jane Street, and is currently based in Hong Kong. Evan is working in New York City as a freelance journalist, with past work at publications such as POLITICO and Bloomberg. They each have taken the lessons of Bishop’s into new and different realms.
“Before Evan graduated, the Parents’ Association at Bishop’s asked me to give a talk,” recalls Sharon. “I looked at that first application I completed. I could say that I am 100 percent satisfied. Actually, Bishop’s went beyond our expectations. Our children are doing great at work and also with their self-growth into other areas. We are very grateful.”
That gratitude inspired Sharon to say “yes,” when the Board of Trustees asked her to join in 2022, building on her prior service to the School, which included Parents’ Association treasurer, grade level parent, and board member of the Performing Arts Circle, when her children were students. Recently, the Pengs made an early gift to the Lead with Purpose campaign, seeking to inspire others to give back to Bishop’s as well.
“I am somewhat responsible for the direction of our gift,” laughs Dean, “which is for the Wu Tsai Field House. The joke in our family is that I’m always busy — the dad is always busy, but whenever Ashley and Evan had a game on campus, I’m there. Sports teach you a lot of things that you cannot learn from academics. And as a doctor, of course, I know that exercise is for good health, which is the foundation of a good life.” In agreement, Sharon adds, “I feel the emphasis on well-being, which has happened since our kids graduated, is very important. I really appreciate that Bishop’s wants to open students’ eyes and help them see what is important in the community, and in life.”