<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-chinese-man-speaking-into-a-podium-microphone-while-on-stage.png?id=65835863&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C187%2C0%2C188" /><br /><br /><p>When <a href="https://yong-wang.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Yong Wang</a> recently received one of the highest honors for early-career data visualization researchers, it marked a milestone in an extraordinary journey that began far from the world’s technology hubs.</p>