For Won Jang ’26, sharing was second nature — home-cooked food, his love of music and even his optimism. Known for his creativity and warmhearted demeanor, Jang inspired those around him with his profound generosity and care for others.
According to his father, Hongpil Jang, Jang was a gifted musician with a “deep love for music.” He played piano, several Korean instruments, trumpet — winning awards “as one of the top performers on the East Coast” — and even taught himself electric guitar and bass in college. Despite Jang’s own talents, however, he remained most committed to sharing music with others.
“He loved sharing what he had and was proud to be who he was,” Hongpil Jang wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth. “He created a Korean club at school to teach his friends Korean and voluntarily taught Janggu, Korean drum, to adults in the Delaware Korean School, even performing with them.”
Jang, a biomedical engineering major from Middletown, Del., was reported missing on July 7 and found in the Connecticut River that evening. He died at 20 years old. During his time at the College, Jang served as a project manager at the DALI lab, participated in the TuckLAB entrepreneurship program and mentored international students for the Office of Pluralism and Leadership. He also brought his love of music to campus, co-founding two student bands during his time at Dartmouth — Catalysis, later renamed Silkstream, and Bored Shorts.
