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On August 5, according to CCTV News, Mr. Tsung-Dao Lee, a famous physicist and Nobel Prize winner in Physics, passed away at the age of 97. During his lifetime, Tsung-Dao Lee held many positions in China. In 1986, he assisted in the establishment of the China Center for Advanced Science and Technology in Beijing and served as its lifelong director. In 1991, the Zhejiang Center for Modern Physics was established, and Tsung-Dao Lee served as the director of the center. Since 1993, Tsung-Dao Lee has been successively appointed as an honorary professor of Jinan University, Fudan University, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Nanjing University, and Northwest University. In 1994, he was elected as a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. On November 28, 2016, the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute was officially established at Shanghai Jiaotong University. On April 7, 2018, Tsung-Dao Lee was appointed as the honorary director of the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute.

▲The Tsung-Dao Lee Institute released an obituary

Wang Yifang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who had many contacts with Lee, told Red Star News that Lee was a theoretical physicist, but he acted like an experimental physicist, very thoughtful and practical, and did all the specific things himself. Wang Yifang recalled that Lee's judgment on whether to support a project was not based on his position, but on academic recognition.

Wang Yifang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, recalled:

Tsung-Dao Lee once gave a seminar in the country

Thousands of young scholars have benefited

The obituary released by the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University shows that Tsung-Dao Lee died at his home in San Francisco, USA at 2:33 a.m. local time on August 4, 2024, at the age of 97. "With his ardent love for his motherland and his strong desire to serve his country, Mr. Lee used his outstanding vision as an outstanding scientist to vigorously promote the development of high-energy physics in China around the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider."

In 2021, Tsung-Dao Lee sent a message to China's high-energy physics cause, "I sincerely hope that the country's high-energy physics cause will prosper and develop healthily, and that Chinese scientists will make more important and original achievements that are world-class!"

▲Tsung-Dao Lee showed his message to China's high-energy physics industry. Photo courtesy of the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

On August 5, Wang Yifang, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Red Star News that Tsung-Dao Lee worked tirelessly and devoted all his wisdom to promote the development of high-energy physics in China and the construction of my country's first large scientific facility, the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider. He accompanied and witnessed the difficult yet successful steps of my country's high-energy physics cause, and made irreplaceable contributions to the development of China's high-energy physics.

In Wang Yifang's view, another major contribution of Tsung-Dao Lee to the development of Chinese science is in talent cultivation. Wang Yifang introduced that Tsung-Dao Lee once held a workshop in China to introduce the latest developments in quantum field theory and quantum statistics at that time. Thousands of people attended the lectures and many young students benefited from it. On this basis, he promoted young Chinese scholars to study in the United States for about 10 years, benefiting about 1,000 people, many of whom became important forces in science and education.

Wang Yifang recalled that Lee was a theoretical physicist, but he did things like an experimental physicist, very thoughtful and practical, and did many specific things personally, rather than just expressing his opinions. Whether it was promoting the Chinese postdoctoral system or the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider, he did a lot of things personally. "Without his promotion, these things would not have been possible."

Wang Yifang once said in an interview that Tsung-Dao Lee was a person with high emotional intelligence and seemed to have the ability to see into people's hearts.

Wang Yifang told Red Star News that Li Zhengdao was very good at communicating with others, able to understand other people's problems and difficulties, and then persuade others through his own language skills, academic ability and insight. Li Zhengdao was able to accurately understand the various technical, talent and other problems and difficulties they encountered and find the right people to solve the problems.

Wang Yifang's deepest impression of Tsung-Dao Lee was that when he introduced the Daya Bay neutrino experiment to him, Lee did not express his opinion, but did a lot of research and communication with the academic community after returning to the United States. After Lee determined that it was a meaningful and important experiment, he conducted various communications between China and the United States to promote the establishment and cooperation of this experiment.

More than 60 years of academic career:

Served as honorary professor at many universities

Helped design the postdoctoral system

The obituary released by the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute mentioned that "as one of the physicists who pioneered the history of Chinese people winning the Nobel Prize, Mr. Tsung-Dao Lee has been rigorous in his academic career for more than 60 years. He has made breakthroughs in many fields such as quantum field theory, elementary particle theory, nuclear physics, statistical mechanics, fluid mechanics, and astrophysics, constantly climbing scientific peaks, seeking truth and facts, and has made lasting and clear contributions to the development of physics. As a wise messenger who advocates the integration of science and art, Mr. Tsung-Dao Lee personally practiced and collaborated with many top Chinese artists to integrate scientific ideas into artistic creation, leaving behind many masterpieces with rich connotations and meaningful meanings."

Tsung-Dao Lee was born on November 24, 1926 in Shanghai, China. He was originally from Suzhou, Jiangsu. He loved reading since he was a child. He not only liked Chinese classic novels, but also was keen on English and American literary masterpieces. Popular science books such as "The Expanding Universe" inspired his interest in physics.

In 1943, Li Zhengdao passed the National College Entrance Examination and was admitted to Zhejiang University. From 1943 to 1945, Li Zhengdao studied physics at Zhejiang University and Southwest Associated University. Due to social unrest and war, Li Zhengdao never obtained a formal elementary school, junior high school, high school or university diploma.

In 1946, Li Zhengdao received a scholarship and left Shanghai to study in the United States. In June 1950, Li Zhengdao received a doctorate in theoretical physics from the University of Chicago and was hailed as the "prodigy doctor."

In April 1957, Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang won the Einstein Science Award for their theory of parity non-conservation in weak interactions. In October of the same year, Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

In September 1972, Tsung-Dao Lee and his wife Qin Hui-yi visited China for the first time. In October of the same year, Zhou Enlai met with Tsung-Dao Lee and his wife in Beijing for the first time. In 1979, Tsung-Dao Lee was invited to give lectures at the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. During the lectures, he found that most of the students had excellent grades and outstanding abilities. Tsung-Dao Lee hoped to create opportunities for more young people and created the "China-US Joint Training Program for Physics Graduate Students" (CUSPEA) to select outstanding students to study in the United States.

In 1985, at the suggestion of Tsung-Dao Lee, China established the postdoctoral system and the Natural Science Foundation. He also helped design the specific implementation plans for the postdoctoral system and the Natural Science Foundation.

In 1986, Tsung-Dao Lee helped found the China Center for Advanced Science and Technology in Beijing and served as its lifelong director. In 1991, the Zhejiang Center for Modern Physics was established, with Tsung-Dao Lee serving as its director.

Since 1993, Tsung-Dao Lee has been successively appointed as honorary professors of Jinan University, Fudan University, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Nanjing University, and Northwest University. In 1994, he was elected as a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the same year, he was appointed as an honorary professor of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, and organized the "Art and Science" seminar with a group of famous artists. On November 28, 2016, the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute was officially established at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. On April 7, 2018, Tsung-Dao Lee was appointed as the honorary director of the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute.

Red Star News reporter Liu Yazhou and intern Huang Wenhong

Editor Pan Li Responsible Editor Guan Li