Continuing Legacy: The Timothy S.Y. Lam Museum of Anthropology

Timothy S.Y. Lam had a wide range of interests; cooking, wines, entertaining, model trains, antiques, oil painting, photography, carpentry, wood sign carving and much more. One such obsession was his extensive collection of Tang Dynasty ceramics. In 2000, he published the book “Tang Ceramics – Changsha Kilns” which is an invaluable reference for Chinese art, culture, and history. In the foreword of his book, Mr. Lam thanked his wife Ellen (President, Timothy S.Y. Lam Foundation) and sons Tim Jr. and Marcus for their ‘tolerance in my obsession in the phases of collecting, rejuvenating, classifying, measuring, sketching, drawing, photographing, researching and writing”.

A graduate of Wake Forest University (1960), Mr. Lam donated his collection of more than 500 Tang Dynasty Chinese ceramics to the Wake Forest University Museum of Anthropology shortly before his passing in 2012. The collection is the largest and most comprehensive group of artifacts in the United States from the Changsha kilns, an important archeological site linked to the medieval Silk Roads.

And now in 2021, Mr. Lam’s wife Ellen and sons Tim Jr. and Marcus, also graduates of Wake Forest University, continued the spirit of his original gift by creating a new academic excellence fund for the Museum. The museum has been renamed the Timothy S.Y. Lam Museum of Anthropology in honor of Tim Sr. and the Lam family’s support.

“Excited that the home of Dad's Tang dynasty ceramics collection will now bear his name going forward. The museum does great work promoting awareness of global cultures and providing opportunities for intercultural learning.” Tim Lam, Jr.