Li Tian
{{Short description|Chinese physicist and aircraft designer}}
{{family name hatnote|Li|lang=Chinese}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Li Tian
| native_name = 李天
| native_name_lang= zh-hans
| image = File:Li Tian pic.jpeg
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1938|10|2|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Jilin City, Jilin, Manchukuo
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2018|4|11|1938|10|2|df=yes}}
| death_place = Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| residence =
| fields = Aerodynamics
| workplaces = Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute,
Beihang University
| alma_mater = Tsinghua University
| signature =
}}
Li Tian ({{zh|c=李天|p=Lǐ Tiān|w=Li T'ien|s=|t=}}; 2 October 1938 – 11 April 2018) was a Chinese physicist and aircraft designer. An expert in aerodynamics for aeronautics, he served as chief scientist of the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. He was also an adjunct professor at Beihang University.{{Cite web|url=http://m.people.cn/n4/2018/0411/c45-10811708.html|title=中国科学院院士李天逝世 系中国战机隐身技术之父 |website=www.people.cn|language=zh|access-date=2018-04-11}}
Biography
Li was born in October 1938 in Jilin City, Jilin province. He graduated from Tsinghua University in 1963 with a degree in fluid mechanics.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cannews.com.cn/epaper/zghkb/2014/12/23/A06/story/440632.shtml|title=天之骄子——记中国科学院院士、沈阳飞机设计研究所首席专家李天|work=China Aviation News|language=zh}} He was assigned to the then 601 Institute as a technician afterwards, and was banished to western Liaoning during the Cultural Revolution.{{Cite book|title=情志蓝天——记航空气动专家、中国科学院院士李天|publisher=Aviation Industry Press|year=2011|isbn=9787802437159|language=zh}}
Li was responsible for the aerodynamic projects when developing Shenyang J-8 and Shenyang J-11, he is known as one of the founders of Chinese stealth technology for aircraft. He improved Chinese fighter configurations and stealthy designs by combining electromagnetic scattering characteristics with aerodynamic theory.{{Cite journal|year=2013|title=李天 飞机空气动力学专家|journal=航空制造技术 [Aeronautical Manufacturing Technology]|language=zh|volume=423|issue=3|pages=26–27}}
Li was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005.
Li's father, Li Pengshu, taught Chinese literature at a high school. Li was the third of five children. After his mother died in 1948, his father remarried in 1950 and had two more children. Li died on 11 April 2018 in Shenyang, aged 79.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Tian}}
Category:Academic staff of Beihang University
Category:Chinese aircraft designers
Category:Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Category:People from Jilin City
Category:Physicists from Jilin