 A native of Hong Kong, Chen studied at La Salle College in Hong Kong until Form 5, before going to the United States and graduating from Northfield Mount Hermon School, a preparatory school in Northfield, Massachusetts.He went on to graduate from Brown University in 1978 with a B.S., "magna cum laude" in electrical engineering, and in 1979, with an M.S.in electrical engineering from Caltech.