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Yu Min | |||||||
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于敏 | |||||||
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| Born | (1926-08-16)16 August 1926 | ||||||
| Died | 16 January 2019(2019-01-16) (aged 92) Beijing, China | ||||||
| Nationality | Chinese | ||||||
| Education | Peking University | ||||||
| Spouse | Sun Yuqin | ||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||
| Awards | Highest Science and Technology Award (2014) Medal of the Republic (2019, posthumously) | ||||||
| Scientific career | |||||||
| Fields | Nuclear physics | ||||||
| Institutions | Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Chinese | 于敏 | ||||||
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Yu Min (Chinese:于敏;pinyin:Yú Mǐn; 16 August 1926 – 16 January 2019) was a prominent Chinese nuclear physicist. He was an academic ofChinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), a lead nuclear weapon designer in theNinth Academy, and a recipient ofTwo Bombs, One Satellite Achievement Medal. Though he personally refused to accept the title, he is honored as “the father of [the] Chinese Hydrogen Bomb”.[1]
Yu was posthumously bestowed theMedal of the Republic, the highest honorary medal of the People's Republic of China, in September 2019.[2]
He was born inTianjin in August 1926.[3] He was famous for his excellent performances inYaohua High School. Later he was admitted by Department of Electrical engineering ofPeking University, however, out of the passion for the physical theories, he transferred into Department of Physics to work on theory.
From 1949, Yu started his postgraduate research in the Department of Physics ofPeking University, and also served as a teaching assistant. In 1951, he became an assistant researcher and associate researcher at Modern Physics Institute of CAS, and began to study nuclear physics theory under the supervision ofPeng Huanwu.
Early 1958, with China-Soviet National Defense Contract, Yu and his colleagues includingDeng Jiaxian, Sun Yuzhang etc. moved to No.221 Factory nearQinghai Lake.
From the end of 1960, Yu was involved in the theoretical research of nuclear weapons. In 1961 he joined as a member of the Light Nucleus Theory Group set up by Peng the previous year. The working group merged with the Ninth Academy in 1965.[4] Yu's major contributions included the solutions to a series of fundamental and critical theoretical problems of nuclear weapons, which led to the breakthrough of thehydrogen bomb.[5] He gained reputation and became the academician of Chinese Academy of Science for his design of the hydrogen bomb.
Yu's involvement with China's nuclear weapons program remained secret until his retirement in 1988. He was awarded the national top science award in January 2015.[6] With theRMB 5 million prize, Yu founded the Yu Min Foundation to support scientific development in China. The following year, he became a laureate of theAsian Scientist 100 by theAsian Scientist.[7]
Yu died in Beijing on 16 January 2019.[8]
Yu married Sun Yuqin (Chinese:孙玉芹), the couple had a son, Yu Xin (Chinese:于辛), and a daughter, Yu Yuan (Chinese:于元).[9]
