When Greg Kaiser ’61 was an undergraduate, Delta Chi was among the top 5 fraternities in academic standing at Michigan, an honor in which brothers took a great deal of pride. This memory of his time in the Delta Chi house is no surprise coming from Brother Kaiser, who committed his four years at Michigan—and his graduate studies and career—to Chinese and Japanese languages and culture.
“Studying Chinese and Japanese is a commitment. Brothers always asked me why I was taking these difficult courses,” he said, adding that he convinced his Delta Chi roommate Keith Hellems ’62 to take one Asian geopolitics course and was impressed that he finished the whole semester.
During World War II, Kaiser’s uncle—his mother’s sister’s husband—was a Flying Tiger, an ace who flew P-40s against the Japanese in southwest China. He came home once during the war wearing his leather flight jacket with the signature tiger teeth design and the Chinese and American flags on the back with messages in both English and Chinese. Although his uncle, who Kaiser describes as “a wild one,” didn’t make it through the war, he says, “his visit made a big impact,” sparking an interest that led Kaiser down a lifelong road in Asian studies of language, history, culture, economics and business.
After completing his undergraduate courses at Michigan, Kaiser stayed in Ann Arbor to earn his Master’s. At the time, the University had one of the largest centers in the world for Asian studies, with many well-known professors who had previously been part of the Office of Strategic Services—a forerunner to the CIA started during the war. After teaching for a short time, he earned his PhD from University of Chicago in Chinese language, politics, economics and history. In between, he spent summers in intensive Chinese studies programs, and studied in Taiwan as a Fulbright Hayes Chinese Language-Research Fellow.
In 1976, Kaiser started the Asia Group to help American and Japanese companies do business in China. He is still active as president, providing major corporations like Caterpillar, GE, Honeywell, John Deere and others with strategic planning, project development and project capitalization to help companies navigate Chinese networks. He speaks and reads in Chinese daily as easily as most of us do in English and makes about four major trips a year to China and Japan. Although other companies offer similar services in the Asian market, Kaiser’s Asia Group was among the first and has maintained long-term relationships with many of its original clients.
Fond memories of Delta Chi include learning to use his recruiting skills and hosting some of the best events on campus. “As a mid-sized fraternity,” Kaiser remembers, “Delta Chi had to work hard to secure interest from prospective members, even finding potential brothers on the sidewalk and bringing them back for an introduction to the house. We picked up some members that way.”
During his time, Delta Chi also won Michigras twice. At that time, Kaiser says, the house found success from working hard and working together, noting it’s no surprise so many brothers have gone on to successful careers in medicine and law.
Spending so much time out of the country, Kaiser hasn’t kept in close touch with many brothers, but maintains contact with his former roommate Keith Hellems and is glad to see the fraternity’s alumni component ramping up its communications. Having served several years as president of the Illinois Chapter of the Michigan Alumni Association he appreciates the work alumni volunteers do to keep brothers connected and knows it can be difficult to get alumni involved.
In his precious spare time, Kaiser enjoys lap swimming and keeps up with his two grown children—a son, 31, an engineer at Mitsubishi Corporation, and a daughter, 30, currently doing a fellowship in cardiology at The University of Michigan hospitals.
Brothers can contact Greg at: [email protected].
