Paul Ching Wu Chu (Chinese: 朱經武; born December 2, 1941) is a Chinese-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.
Chu was born in Changsha, Hunan, Republic of China in 1941. Chu's family was from Taishan, Guangdong. Chu spent his childhood in Taiwan.[1][2]
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, Chu earned his Master of Science degree from Fordham University. In 1968, Chu earned his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, San Diego.[3]
After two years of performing industrial research with Bell LaboratoriesatMurray 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,[4] touching off a frenzy of scientific excitement exemplified by the Woodstock of physics, at which he was a featured presenter.[5] 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.[6]
Chu has received numerous awards and honors for his outstanding work in superconductivity, including the National Medal of Science[7] and the Comstock Prize in Physics in 1988,[8] 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.[9] 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]
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.[10][11]
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).[12]
He is married to May Chu, the daughter of Shiing-Shen Chern.[13]
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