Frank Shu | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Frank Hsia-San Shu[2] (1943-06-02)June 2, 1943 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | April 22, 2023(2023-04-22) (aged 79) Atherton, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS) Harvard University (PhD) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Known for | Density wave theory Star formation | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards | Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy Brouwer Award Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics Shaw Prize in Astronomy Bruce Medal | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific career | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Fields | Astronomy | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Institutions | Stony Brook University University of California, Berkeley National Tsing Hua University University of California, San Diego City University of Hong Kong | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Thesis | The Dynamics and Large-Scale Structure of Spiral Galaxies (1968) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Doctoral advisor | Chia-Chiao Lin[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other academic advisors | Max Krook | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Doctoral students | Fred Adams Susana Lizano Eve Ostriker[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Frank Hsia-San Shu (Chinese:徐遐生;Jyutping:Ceoi4 Haa4 Sang1; June 2, 1943 – April 22, 2023) was a Chinese-Americanastrophysicist, astronomer, and author. He served as a Professor Emeritus at theUniversity of California, Berkeley andUniversity of California, San Diego.[3] He is best known for proposing thedensity wave theory to explain the structure ofspiral galaxies, and for describing a model ofstar formation, where a giant densemolecular cloud collapses to form astar.[4]
Shu'shometown isWenzhou,Zhejiang, but he was born inKunming,Yunnan, in 1943.[2][3] His father,Shu Shien-Siu,[5] was amathematician and an instructor at theNational Tsing Hua University, which, at that time due toWorld War II, was temporarily relocated to Kunming fromBeijing. The senior Shu would serve as the President of the National Tsing Hua University from 1970 to 1975.[6] When Shu was two months old, his father went to the United States for study and, later, work. Shu and his family went toTaiwan throughHong Kong when he was five years old, stayed there for a year, and then traveled bysteamship to the United States to re-unite with the senior Shu, who was working at theIllinois Institute of Technology,Chicago.[3]
Shu completed hisBSc inphysics in 1963 at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[7] While at MIT, he worked one summer forChia-Chiao Lin on the structure ofspiral galaxies, and the experience made him interested inastrophysics. He later continued working with Lin for hisPhD project, asMax Krook, his formal doctoral supervisor atHarvard University, gave him freedom in his PhD research.[3] He obtained his PhD from Harvard in 1968.[7]
Over his PhD study, he built on his undergraduate work and, together with Lin, proposed thedensity wave theory and published several articles explaining the structure of spiral galaxies.[8][9]
After hisPhD, Shu joined theStony Brook University as anassistant professor, and was promoted toassociate professor in 1971.[7] He moved to theUniversity of California, Berkeley in 1973,[2] and became afull professor in 1976. He had a brief visit at theInstitute for Advanced Study in 1982.[10] Between 1984 and 1988, he was the chair, or Head, of the Department of Astronomy.[11]
From 1994 to 1996, Shu was also the President of theAmerican Astronomical Society (AAS).[12]
Shu was named aUniversity Professor of theUniversity of California (UC) system in 1998, an honour that at the time was only endowed to 19 faculty members across the UC system.[13]
In 2002, Shu followed in his father's footsteps and went toTaiwan to take up the position of the President of theNational Tsing Hua University,[5][14] returning to the United States and joining theUniversity of California, San Diego as a distinguished professor in 2006.[7]
Shu officially retired in 2009, becoming a University ProfessorEmeritus of the UC system,[3] and a Distinguished Research Fellow at theAcademia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (until 2015).[7]
Latterly, Shu was an Emeritus Senior Fellow at the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study of theCity University of Hong Kong.[15]
Shu wrote three textbooks:Physical Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy,[16]The Physics of Astrophysics Vol. I: Radiation[17] andThe Physics of Astrophysics Vol. II: Gas Dynamics.[18]
Shu died on April 22, 2023, at the age of 79.[19][20]
Shu is best known for his work inspiral galaxies andstar formation. He, together with hisPhD supervisorChia-Chiao Lin, proposed thedensity wave theory to explain the structure of spiral galaxies.[8][9] In 1977, he published a model, known as the "inside-out" collapse model or the "singular isothermal sphere" model,[4] of star formation, whereby astar forms when a giant densemolecular cloud collapses.[21]
Themain-beltasteroid18238 Frankshu is named after Shu.[32]
| Academic offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of theNational Tsing Hua University 2002–2006 | Succeeded by |
