Mike is a retired software developer. He has had a highly successful career working for companies such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Arkwright Boston (Factory Mutual System), Interactive Data and Chase Manhattan Bank. He also ran his own company proLAN Systems.
Reflecting back, Mike says: “I came to Northeastern as a foreign student from Hong Kong. I joined the News to get closer to campus life and to discover American culture. Along with co-op, Northeastern probably gave me maximum exposure to different aspects of Americana. My co-op job gave me an opportunity to experience the nascent connections between computers and industry, all enabled by 80-column punch cards and the Fortran computer language at the time. Eventually, I would participate in the revolution that traversed mainframe computers, mini-computers and microcomputers built into networks. I had to expand my language to COBOL, C, C++ and HTML to keep up. Northeastern and its Boston location formed just the right combination for this to happen. I considered myself lucky to have had this experience.”
On a personal note, he adds: “The fact that I am participating in putting out this 50th anniversary edition of the Northeastern News attests to the success of the friendship network that I am part of. I must give a large shoutout to Dixie Tourangeau, who is the glue of our group. I think I did pick the right path with Northeastern, the News and Boston all those years ago!”
Mike was very highly regarded by his colleagues during his time with the Northeastern News. He was an extraordinary photographer and a fantastic photo editor, who could always be counted on to get “the right shot and the right exposure.” Photography remains one of his hobbies and pleasures.
Mike Chung graduated from Northeastern University in 1972 with a degree in Engineering.