Paul Ching Wu Chu

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Paul Ching Wu Chu

| image = Ching Wu Chu 20140805.jpg

| native_name = {{no bold|朱經武}}

| native_name_lang = zh-hant

| order = 2nd

| title = President of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

| term_start = 2001

| term_end = 2009

| chancellor = Tung Chee-hwa
Donald Tsang

| predecessor = Woo Chia-wei

| successor = Tony F. Chan

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1941|12|2}}

| birth_place = Changsha, Hunan, China

| death_date =

| death_place =

| residence =

| citizenship = Republic of China
United States

| module = {{Infobox scientist | embed=yes

| fields = Physics

| workplaces = Bell Laboratories
Cleveland State University
University of Houston
HKUST (2001–2009)
Taiwan Comprehensive University System (2012–)

| alma_mater = National Cheng Kung University (BS)
Fordham University (MS)
University of California San Diego (PhD)

| thesis_title = High pressure study on the superconductivity of transition metals and alloys

| thesis_url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/302318984/

| thesis_year = 1968

| doctoral_advisor = Bernd T. Matthias

| academic_advisors =

| doctoral_students =

| notable_students =

| known_for =

| influences =

| influenced =

| awards = Comstock Prize in Physics {{small|(1988)}}
National Medal of Science {{small|(1988)}}
Bernd T. Matthias Prize {{small|(1994)}}
John Fritz Medal {{small|(2001)}}

}}

{{infobox Chinese

|child=yes

|t = 朱經武

|s = 朱经武

|p = Zhū Jīng Wǔ

|j= Zyu¹ Ging¹ Mou⁵

}}

Paul Ching Wu Chu ({{zh|t = 朱經武}}; born December 2, 1941) is a Taiwanese-American physicist specializing in superconductivity, magnetism, and dielectrics. He is a professor of physics and T.L.L. Temple Chair of Science in the Physics Department at the University of Houston College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. He was the president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology from 2001 to 2009. In 1987, he was one of the first scientists to demonstrate high-temperature superconductivity.

Early life and education

Chu was born in Changsha, Hunan, Republic of China in 1941. Chu's family was from Taishan, Guangdong. Chu spent his childhood in Taiwan.{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalscienceandtechnologymedalsfoundation.org/laureates/paul-ching-wu-chu |title=Paul (Ching-Wu) Chu |publisher=nationalscienceandtechnologymedalsfoundation.org |first=Rachel |last=Warren |access-date=August 14, 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.chineseamericanheroes.org/heroes/2012/Paul%20Chu.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913140617/http://www.chineseamericanheroes.org/heroes/2012/Paul%20Chu.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 13, 2015|title=Paul Chu|work=ChineseAmericanHeroes.org|access-date=August 2, 2020}} In 1958, Chu graduated from Taiwan Provincial Cingshuei high school.

In 1962, Chu earned his Bachelor of Science degree from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. In 1965, he earned his Master of Science degree from Fordham University. In 1968, he earned his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, San Diego.{{cite thesis |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302318984/ |title=High pressure study on the superconductivity of transition metals and alloys |date=1968 |publisher=University of California, San Diego |type=Ph.D. |last=Chu |first=Ching-wu |id={{ProQuest|302318984 }}|url-access=subscription |oclc=17622858}}

Career

After two years of performing industrial research with Bell Laboratories at Murray Hill, New Jersey, Chu was appointed assistant professor of physics at Cleveland State University in 1970. He was subsequently promoted to associate professor and professor of physics in 1973 and 1975, respectively.

In 1979, Chu became a professor of physics at the University of Houston, an appointment he still holds. In 1987, he and Maw-Kuen Wu announced the historic discovery of superconductivity above 77 K in YBCO,

{{cite journal

|volume = 58

|pages = 908–910

|year = 1987

|doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.58.908

|pmid = 10035069

|issue = 9

|bibcode = 1987PhRvL..58..908W|doi-access=free }} touching off a frenzy of scientific excitement exemplified by the Woodstock of physics, at which he was a featured presenter.{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/science/06supe.html |title = Physicists Remember When Superconductors Were Hot |last=Chang |first=Kenneth |date=March 6, 2007 |work=New York Times|access-date=22 August 2013}} He was then appointed the director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity. Chu has served as the T.L.L. Temple Chair of Science at the same university since 1987. He also has served as a consultant and visiting staff member at Bell Laboratories, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, the Marshall Space Flight Center, Argonne National Laboratory and DuPont at various times.{{cite web | url=http://www.ashk.org.hk/en/ourMembers/details/10 | title=Paul C W CHU – Our Members – the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences 香港科學院 }}

Chu has received numerous awards and honors for his outstanding work in superconductivity, including the National Medal of Science[https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.cfm?recip_id=77 National Science Foundation – The President's National Medal of Science] and the Comstock Prize in Physics in 1988,{{cite web |title = Comstock Prize in Physics |url = http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_comstock |publisher = National Academy of Sciences |access-date = 13 February 2011 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101229195326/http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_comstock |archive-date = 29 December 2010 }} and the American Physical Society's International Prize for New Materials. He was an invited contributor to the White House National Millennium Time Capsule at the National Archives in 2000 and was selected the Best Researcher in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report in 1990.

In 1989, Chu was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.{{cite web |title = Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter C |url = http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date = June 8, 2011}} He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (foreign member), Academia Sinica, Russian Academy of Engineering (RAE) and the Third World Academy of Sciences. His research activities extend beyond superconductivity to magnetism and dielectrics. {{citation needed|date=August 2009}}

On November 17, 2014, an IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing plaque was presented to University of Houston for Chu and his team's 1987 discovery of high temperature superconductors.{{cite web |url=https://ieeecsc.org/pages/ieee-milestone-electrical-engineering-and-computing-presented-university-houston-discovery |title=IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing Presented to University of Houston for Discovery of High Temperature Superconductors |publisher=ieeecsc.org |date=November 2014 |access-date=August 14, 2019}}(The IEEE Milestone plaque is mounted in the lobby area of Science Research Building One.){{cite web |url=https://ethw.org/Milestones:High-Temperature_Superconductivity,_1987 |title=Milestones: High Temperature Superconductivity, 1987 |publisher=ethw.org |access-date=August 14, 2019}}

On September 1, 2001, Chu succeeded Professor Chia-Wei Woo as the president of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Chu's tenure as university president ended officially on 1 September 2009.

On November 5, 2011, Chu was appointed as the founding President of the Taiwan Comprehensive University System (TCUS).{{cite web | url=https://www.tcus.edu.tw/English/About/Idea | title=Concept of Establishment – About TCUS – Taiwan Comprehensive University System, TCUS }}

Personal life

He is married to May Chu, the daughter of Shiing-Shen Chern.{{Cite web |title=Shiing-shen Chern – Biography |url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Chern/ |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=Maths History |language=en}}

Awards and honors

Honorary Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree from Whittier College. (1991){{Cite web|url=https://www.whittier.edu/alumni/poetnation/honorary|title=Honorary Degrees {{!}} Whittier College|website=www.whittier.edu|access-date=2020-02-19}}
2014 IEEE Council on Superconductivity Max Swerdlow Award for Sustained Service to the Applied Superconductivity Community.{{cite web |url=https://ssl.uh.edu/uhnews/newsletter/fall-2014/success/chu-selvamanickam-honored.php |title=Chu, Selvamanickam Honored Superconductivity Achievements |publisher=uh.eduedu |first=Jeannie |last=Kever |date=2014 |access-date=August 14, 2019}}

Lectures

1991 – [https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb3141212d High temperature superconductivity: four years later] Lecture sponsored by the Dept. of Electrical and Computer engineering, University of California, San Diego. Electrical and Computer Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series. Digital object made available by UC San Diego Library.

References

Additional sources

{{cite news|last1=Gleick|first1=James|title=In the trenches of science|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/16/magazine/in-the-trenches-of-science.html?pagewanted=all&mcubz=3|access-date=27 September 2017|work=The New York Times|date=16 August 1987}}
{{cite book|last1=Hazen|first1=Robert M.|title=The breakthrough : the race for the superconductor|date=1988|publisher=Summit Books|location=New York|isbn=9780671658298|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/breakthroughrace00haze}}.
{{cite book|last1=Matricon|first1=Jean|last2=Glashausser|first2=Georges Waysand; translated by Charles|title=The cold wars : a history of superconductivity|date=2003|publisher=Rutgers University Press|location=New Brunswick, N.J.|isbn=9780813532950}}

External links

[http://www.uh.edu/nsm/physics/people/profiles/paul-chu/ Paul Chu at uh.edu] – [https://web.archive.org/web/20120114171618/http://phys.uh.edu/people/detail/?155622-961-5=cwchu2 at archive.org]
[http://www.ashk.org.hk/en/ourMembers/details/10 Paul C. W. Chu at ashk.org.hk]
[https://www.committee100.org/member/paul-c-w-chu/ Paul C. W. Chu at committee100.org]
[https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/paul-ching-wu-chu Paul Ching-Wu Chu at encyclopedia.com]

{{s-ttl|title=President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology|years=2001–2009}}

{{s-ttl|title=President of the Taiwan Comprehensive University System|years=2012–}}

Category:1941 births

Category:Living people

Category:Chinese emigrants to the United States

Category:21st-century American physicists

Category:Cleveland State University alumni

Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Category:Fordham University alumni

Category:Members of Academia Sinica

Category:Members of the Committee of 100

Category:National Cheng Kung University alumni