China Focus: Chinese physicists remember Nobel laureate Tsung-Dao Lee

BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — A memorial service for Tsung-Dao Lee was held in Beijing on Sunday, at the Institute of High Energy Physics, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
About 330 academicians, experts, representatives of teachers and students, and people from all walks of life gathered to remember the Nobel laureate and Chinese-American physicist, who died at his home on Aug. 4 in San Francisco, California.
Lee, a foreign member of the CAS, was born in Shanghai on Nov. 24, 1926, with ancestral roots in Suzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province. In 1946, he went to the United States to study and later engaged in research at various universities and research institutions in the country.
In 1956, Lee, together with Yang Zhenning, proposed the assertion that parity is not conserved in weak interactions. After experimental verification the following year, they were jointly awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Zhang Huanqiao, who is over 90 years old and a CAS academician, still remembered the time when they won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
“At that time, I had just started my career, and the explosive news greatly inspired me,” he said. From that moment on, he became even more steadfast in his conviction to contribute to China’s scientific endeavors.
Since 1972, Lee has returned to China on many occasions to give lectures and offer advice for universities and research institutions.
After the reform and opening up, he spared no effort in promoting the advancement of science education in China, such as the contribution to establishment of the “Special Class for the Gifted Young” at the University of Science and Technology of China, the promotion of the China-U.S. Physics Examination and Application program, and the proposal to set up the postdoctoral mobile station system in China.
Gao Yuanning, dean of the School of Physics, Peking University, and a CAS academician, remembered Lee’s great contribution to the promotion of academic research at the university.
Lee proposed the establishment of the Beijing Institute of Modern Physics and the Center for High Energy Physics at Peking University, and served as the directors of the two institutions himself, which have facilitated the cultivation of young talent and international research cooperation in fields like particle physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics and cosmology.
Lee also made significant contributions to the cultivation of academic research and talent in Chinese universities such as Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fudan University and Zhejiang University.
In April 1983, the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider (BEPC) program was officially approved, and in October 1988, it achieved the first electron-positron collision. This marked another major breakthrough in China’s high-tech sector following the successful detonation of atomic and hydrogen bombs and the launch of artificial satellites.
From the selection of physics research objectives to the finalization of the accelerator design, and from talent cultivation to engineering management, Lee played a crucial role in BEPC construction.
“At that time, it started from scratch, and many people thought it was impossible to make it,” said Wang Yifang, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics.
Lee leveraged his international influence and assisted in solving numerous challenges through various channels, playing a vital role, added Wang, who is also a CAS academician. ■