Wei grew up in a non-Christian home and was sent by his father, a tea merchant from
Zhuhai, to receive a western education at the American Episcopal missionary school,
Boone College. In 1911, he both graduated with a BA from Boone and was baptized into the
Episcopal Church. He stayed at Boone to teach mathematics and pursue an MA, completing a thesis on "The Political Principles of Mencius." Wei pursued another MA in comparative philosophy at
Harvard University (1918–1919), studying under
William E. Hocking, before pursuing a PhD from the
School of Economics, University of London (1927–1929), writing a thesis on "A Study of the Chinese Moral Tradition and Its Social Values." In 1925, Wei served as vice president of the newly formed
Huachung University and, after completing his PhD in London, he returned to Huachung to serve as its first Chinese president from 1929 until his retirement in 1951. He was also a visiting professor at
Yale Divinity School (1937–1937) and was the first Henry W. Luce Visiting Professor of
World Christianity at
Union Theological Seminary, New York in 1945. == Bibliography ==