An international academic forum was held on September 24, 2022 at the conference center of the United States Postal Service to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the birth of world-famous physicist Madam Chien-Shiung Wu. The event was co-sponsored by the Chinese Physical Society and the American Physical Society, and organized by the Nanjing University Alumni Association United States.
In a video message to the forum, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang paid homage to Madam Wu for her outstanding contributions to the development of physics and to science, technology and people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States. Wang Zhigang pointed out that a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is taking on momentum, and technological innovation has become a key variable in driving changes in the world. All countries should work together, move forward hand in hand, and be committed to international sci-tech exchanges and cooperation to achieve common progress. The Ministry of Science and Technology will continue to make efforts to conduct sci-tech exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, and create favorable conditions for such exchanges and cooperation.
In an address to the forum, Qin Gang, Chinese Ambassador to the US, noted that Dr.Wu took a long journey from China to the US to study physics and dedicated her life to science, and he highly appreciated her persistent pursuit of truth. He expressed his hope that both countries will build more platforms and dialogue mechanisms for scientific exchange activities, so as to encourage more people to study physics, devote themselves to scientific undertakings, and make positive contributions to the progress of China and the US and beyond.
Prof. Zhang Jie, President of the Chinese Physical Society, and Prof. Kim Young-kee, President-elect of the American Physical Society, delivered messages on behalf of the organizers respectively. Other Chinese and foreign scholars made video or on-site speeches.
Dr.Wan Gang, President of the China Association for Science and Technology, and Dr.Stephen Orlins, President of the National Committee on United States China Relations, sent congratulatory letters to the event.
Dr.Chien-Shiung Wu was born in 1912 in the town of Liuhe, Taicang city in Jiangsu province, China. She graduated in 1934 from what is now known as Nanjing University, and went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley in 1936, and she received a doctor‘s degree in physics in 1940. As an experimental nuclear physicist, she verified the theory that “the principle of parity conservation does not hold universally”. Due to her remarkable achievements in the field of physics, Chien-Shiung Wu was awarded the National Medal of Science, and became the first female President of the American Physical Society. She was also a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, and a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. She passed away in New York in February 1997, and her ashes were placed in her hometown of Liuhe Town.