Professor Chen Ning Yang, a world-renowned physicist, Nobel Laureate in Physics, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor at Tsinghua University, and Honorary Director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Tsinghua University, passed away in Beijing on October 18 due to illness at the age of 103.
Professor Yang was born in Hefei, Anhui Province, in 1922 and moved to Tsinghua with his parents in 1929. In 1938, he enrolled at the National Southwest Associated University. He entered the Tsinghua Graduate School in 1942 and received his Master of Science degree in 1944. In 1945, he went to the United States and studied at the University of Chicago. After earning his Ph.D. in 1948, he remained at the University to pursue his career. In 1949, he joined the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, becoming a permanent member of the Institute in 1952 and a professor in 1955. In 1966, he became the Albert Einstein Professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he founded the Institute for Theoretical Physics (now named the C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics) and worked there until 1999. Starting in 1986, he served as Distinguished Professor-at-large at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. From 1997, he served as Honorary Director of the newly established Center for Advanced Study at Tsinghua University (now named the Institute for Advanced Study), and became a professor at Tsinghua University in 1999.
Professor Yang is one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century, having made revolutionary contributions to the development of modern physics. The Yang-Mills Gauge Theory, which he proposed with Robert Mills, laid the foundation for the subsequent Standard Model of particle physics. It is regarded as one of the cornerstones of modern physics alongside Maxwell's equations and Einstein's theory of general relativity. His collaboration with Tsung-Dao Lee on the groundbreaking concept of parity non-conservation in weak interactions earned them the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics, making them the first two Chinese Nobel Prize winners. He discovered the pivotal equation for one-dimensional quantum many-body problems, the Yang-Baxter equation, which opened up new directions in research in statistical physics, quantum groups, and related fields of physics and mathematics. He achieved numerous breakthroughs in particle physics, quantum field theory, statistical physics, and condensed matter physics, profoundly shaping the development of these disciplines. Professor Yang was elected member or foreign member of over ten national and regional academies of sciences, received honorary doctorates from more than twenty prestigious universities worldwide, and was honored with numerous awards, including the U. S. National Medal of Science, the Benjamin Franklin Medal, the Lars Onsager Prize, the King Faisal International Prize for Science, the China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award, and the Qiu Shi Lifetime Achievement Award.
Professor Yang was deeply devoted to his homeland, making remarkable contributions to China's scientific and educational developments. His visit to China in 1971 sparked a wave of visits by overseas scholars, earning him recognition as the pioneer in building the bridge of academic exchange between China and the United States. He later proposed the restoration and strengthening of basic scientific research to China’s central leadership. He also raised funds to establish the “Committee on Educational Exchange with China”, which has continuously sponsored nearly 100 Chinese scholars for advanced studies in the United States. These scholars later became the backbone of China's scientific and technological development. He undertook extensive work to promote China’s scientific and technological exchange and progress, offering advice and exerting significant influence on major Chinese scientific projects and the formulation of science and education policies. After returning to Tsinghua University, he took on developing the Institute for Advanced Study as his new mission. He poured immense effort into advancing fundamental disciplines like physics and cultivating talents at Tsinghua, making tremendous contributions that greatly impacted the reform and development of Chinese higher education.
Professor Yang's life was an immortal legend in exploring the unknown and a profound embodiment of his love for his homeland. “Better to be genuine than clever; better to be simple than ornate” reflected both his academic attitude and his life stance. As his cherished verse says:
“A piece of literature
Is meant for the millennium
But its ups and downs are known
Already in the author’s heart.”
His life stands as a timeless chapter in human history—one that shines not only for China but for the global community of thinkers and innovators.
Professor Chen Ning Yang’s legacy will live on forever.
