Hu Hesheng, a revered Chinese mathematician and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, passed away on February 2, at the age of 96. She was also the first female member specialized in mathematics elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Hu served as vice-president of Chinese Mathematical Society and president of the Shanghai Mathematical Society. During the 2002 International Congress of Mathematicians, she was an invited speaker for the Emmy Noether Lectures, a distinguished lecture series that honors women who have made fundamental and sustained contributions to the mathematical sciences.
Born in Shanghai, Hu studied mathematics at National Chiao Tung University (now Shanghai Jiaotong University) and Great China University. She later earned her master’s degree in mathematics from Zhejiang University, under the supervision of mathematician Su Buqing who was praised commonly in mathematical field as the “first geometer in the orient”.
After receiving her education at Zhejiang University, Hu embarked on a distinguished career marked by groundbreaking research in differential geometry and mathematical physics. In 1952, she began working as a lecturer at Fudan University, later achieving full-time professorship.
In addition to participating in the compilation of Differential Geometry, the first textbook that made a holistic introduction to differential geometry in China, Hu offered senior undergraduates courses on differential geometry, and kept organizing discussion sessions among students, and reading and correcting students’ graduation theses even in her 70s.
“She gave us freedom to the greatest extent possible, and always encouraged us to persevere,” said Li Jun, member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, director of Shanghai Center for Mathematical Sciences and professor emeritus of mathematics at Stanford University, speaking of his supervisor Hu Hesheng, who made an exception to approve him to graduate ahead of time, and recommended him to study in the United States under the supervision of mathematician Shing-Tung Yau.
Hu Hesheng(left) with her supervisor mathematician Su Buqing(middle) and her husband Gu Chaohao(right)
In the mathematics circle in China, the love story between Hu Hesheng and her husband Gu Chaohao is a much told tale. Both of them were students of Su Buqing, and later both became famous mathematicians in China and members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. They were partners not only in life, but also in mathematics study. Gu’s academic background included a specialization in differential geometry, partial differential equation, and mathematics physics. His research of nonlinear hyperbolic systems and multivariate partial differential equations of mixed type won a 2nd Class Award for National Natural Science in 1982.
As the mathematical community mourns the loss of one of its most distinguished members, Prof. Hu’s contributions to the field will be remembered with deep reverence and gratitude.
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Presented by Fudan University Media Center
Writer: Wang Mengqi
Editor: Li Yijie
Designer: Ling Yiqi
