Former Professor Pengyin Chen Dies; Funeral Services Saturday

University Relations

Pengyin Chen

Pengyin Chen, a former professor at the University of Arkansas, died Aug. 1, 2022, in Fayetteville at the age of 64. Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, with funeral services following at 11 a.m., both at Nelson-Berna Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Fairview Memorial Gardens in Fayetteville.

He was born on Sept. 28, 1957, in Jinyang, China, to Chen Jian Cheng and Guo Hui Qin. He married Ping Zhao on Sept. 18, 1979, in Yangling, China.

He earned his Ph.D. in soybean agronomy from Virginia Tech and taught at several universities including Iowa State University, Virginia Tech, the University of Missouri, and then at the University of Arkansas for 16 years, where he was a soy bean breeder and researcher for the UA System Division of Agriculture. He taught at the University of Missouri for the past five years as an endowed chair for soybean genetics.

For all his achievements, he was named a Crop Science of America Fellow and an American Science of Agronomy Fellow. He was a member of the American Soybean Association and the Grace Chinese Christian Church in Fayetteville.

He was preceded in death by his father, Chen Jian Cheng. He is survived by his wife, Ping Zhao; mother, Guo Hui Qin; daughter, Jean Chen; and son, Andy Chen.