Otto Schnepp

Otto Schnepp, an Austrian-American scientist.

Born in Vienna into a Jewish family, he lived in Shanghai from 1939 to 1948, where bounced between the Shanghai International Settlement and the French Concession as his father continued to practice medicine. He earned his B.S. in Chemistry at St. John's University in Shanghai (1947), A.B. (1948) and Ph.D. (1951) at University of California, Berkeley. He speaks German, Hebrew, French, Chinese, and English.

Professor Schnepp researches the area of optical molecular spectroscopy. He also studies science and technology of modern China, U.S.-China technology transfer and physical chemistry. He is currently active in the field of Science Policy, especially as it concerns China. He was a counselor for science and technology at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing from 1980 to 1982, and a former director of the USC East Asian Studies Center, 1994-2000.

He received many honors, including the Superior Honor Award of the U.S. Department of State, USC Associates’ Award for Creative Scholarship and Research, and the USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award.

Schnepp self-published Roots Lost, Roots Found, a memoir of his life, in April, 2017.