| Yan Jici | |||||||||||||||
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 Sketch of Yan Jici byXu Beihong (1927) | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 嚴濟慈 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 严济慈 | ||||||||||||||
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Yan Jici (Chinese:严济慈;Wade–Giles:Yen Chi-tz'u; 23 January 1901 – 2 November 1996), also commonly known asNy Tsi-ze,[1] was a Chinese physicist and politician who is considered a founder of modern physics in China. He was a founding member ofAcademia Sinica in 1948 and of theChinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1955. He served as founding director of theCAS Institute of Physics and the second president of theUniversity of Science and Technology of China (1980–1984).
In politics, he was a delegate to seven consecutiveNational People's Congresses (1st to 7th), and served asVice Chairperson of the National People's Congress from 1983 to 1993.
Yan was born inDongyang,Zhejiang, China on 23 January 1901.[2] After graduating from the NationalSoutheast University inNanjing in 1923,[3] he went abroad to study at theUniversity of Paris in France. He earned his master's degree in mathematics and physics in 1925, and his Ph.D. in natural science in 1927. His Ph.D. dissertation was on the "deformation and change of optical properties of quartz in an electrical field", withCharles Fabry as his advisor.[4] As the first Chinese to earn a doctoral degree in France, he became famous in both France and China.[5]
After returning to China, Yan became Dean of the School of Sciences and Engineering atJinan University (then located inShanghai).[5] He also taught atUtopia University in Shanghai and theNational Central University and Southeast University in Nanjing.[3][4] At the end of 1928, he went to Paris again and worked in the lab ofMarie Curie for a period. In 1935, he was elected a member of theSociété Française de Physique together withFrédéric Joliot-Curie. On Yan's recommendation,Qian Sanqiang later studied with Joliot-Curie and became one of China's foremost nuclear physicists.[6]
Yan returned to China again in 1930, and soon afterwards became the founding director of the Institute of Physics of the National Peiping Academy inBeiping (now Beijing).[4] In 1932, Yan,Li Shu-hua,Ye Qisun and others co-founded theChinese Physical Society.[7] As such, he is considered a founder of modern physics in China.[7] Most of Yan's scientific research was conducted during the Beiping years. He published more than 50 papers in international scientific journals,[2] before his career was interrupted by war.[7]
When theSecond Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937 and Beiping came under Japanese attack, Yan organized the arduous relocation of the Institute of Physics toKunming in southwest China.[4] More than half of the equipment, books, and documents were lost. To aid the war effort, he shifted the institute's focus to optics research and production, as optical equipment was much needed in military communication and medical instruments. Under his leadership and aided byQian Linzhao, the institute manufactured hundreds of high-poweredmicroscopes,crystal oscillators, militaryrangefinders andtelescopes, and other equipment.[4] After the end of the war, he was awarded the Third Class Star Medal by theRepublic of China government in 1946.[4]
In 1948, he was elected a founding member ofAcademia Sinica and Chairman of theChinese Physical Society.[4][7]
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Yan was instrumental in the establishment of theChinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He was Founding Director of theCAS Institute of Physics, Vice President of the CAS and President of its Northeast China Branch. He also served as Editor-in-Chief of two major journalsScience Bulletin andScience in China (中国科学). In 1955, he was elected a founding member of the CAS.[7]
Yan was a member of the founding committee of theUniversity of Science and Technology of China (USTC), and was appointed Vice President of the university in 1961. After the death ofGuo Moruo, he served as the second President of USTC from 1980 to 1984, and President Emeritus afterwards.[7]
Yan was a delegate to the 1st to 7thNational People's Congress, serving from 1954 to 1993.[3] From 1983, he served asVice Chairman of the6th and7th Congress for ten years. He was also Honorary Chairman of theJiusan Society.[7]
Yan was married to Zhang Zongying (张宗英), the daughter of the prominent educator Zhang Heling (张鹤龄).[8] She was one of the first female students at Southeast University.[5] They were engaged in 1923 and married in 1927.[8]
Yan and his wife had eight children: seventh sons and a daughter. The third, seventh (the only daughter), and eighth died in infancy, and the five surviving sons all became academics.[9] The eldest son, Yan Youguang (严又光), was the main designer of China's first digital computer. The second son, Yan Shuangguang (严双光), was an aircraft designer who was beaten to death during theCultural Revolution. The fourth, Yan Siguang (严四光), was a distinguished researcher at theChinese Academy of Social Sciences. The fifth, Yan Wuguang (严武光), is a professor at the CASInstitute of High Energy Physics. The sixth,Yan Luguang, is an academician of the CAS and former President ofNingbo University.[6][8] The Yan family has been called the "little academy of science".[6]
Yan died in Beijing on 2 November 1996, aged 95.[2] In 1998, the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of the USTC, the university erected a bronze statue of him on its west campus.[7] In 2012, Chinese scientists named a newly discoveredminor planet as10611 Yanjici in his memory.[10]
| Academic offices | ||
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| Preceded by Guo Moruo Vacant since 1978 | President of theUniversity of Science and Technology of China 1980–1984 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
