Math Master of Zhejiang Ancestry Wins Top Award

January 11, 2010 marked a climax in the life of Gu Chaohao, a world-class mathematician. At a presentation ceremony held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the Chinese President Hu Jintao issued the 2009 National Science and Technology Awards to Academician Gu Chaohao and Academician Sun Jiadong. Gu Chaohao is the second man with his ancestral roots in Zhejiang who won the top honor.

I first met Gu Chaohao in June 11, 2009 in Shanghai when he was attending the World Wenzhou Business Leaders Forum. I interviewed him and learned about his life and career.

Gu Chaohao was born in May, 1926 in downtown Wenzhou. As one of the nine siblings, Gu Chaohao was adopted by his uncle and aunt who were childless. His uncle passed away shortly after the junior was adopted and the aunt took good care of the adopted son.

The all-out Japanese invasion into China started in 1937 and many big cities in north fell. Some professors of Wenzhou ancestry in the universities in these cities came back home and taught in local middle schools. Gu Chaohao benefited greatly from this sudden surge of great teachers in local schools. In 1943, he matriculated into a college of Zhejiang University in Longquan, a mountainous county in southern Zhejiang which was a refuge beyond the reach of the Japanese soldiers. It was here that Gu Chaohao studied under the guidance of Professor Su Buqing and Professor Chen Jiangong, both being outstanding mathematicians.

The two professors were soon aware of the brilliance of the young student. They paid special attention to the mathematician in the making. Su Buqing, also a native of Wenzhou, took pains to answer Gu’s questions. Su Buqing gave special lectures to young teachers and associates. At one lecture, he mentioned an issue in differential geometry waiting to be solved. Gu Chaohao was fascinated by the issue. He proposed his theory in a paper and got it published in 1951 in Science of China. Gu’s paper immediately caught international attention. In 1956, Mathematics, an academic review published in USSR, published a lengthy review on Gu’s paper in its inaugural issue.

What Gu Chaohao discovered in mathematics is more than wonders of numbers and lines and shapes and equations. He found love. In September 1950, Gu met Hu Hesheng, a female postgraduate studying under the guidance of Su Buqing, then a professor with Zhejiang University. During that time, Gu Chaohao was working as a teaching assistant for Professor Su. Professor Gu instructed Hu Hesheng to consult Gu Chaohao on some math issues. That day, they met in the library by chance. Hu asked if Gu would help her with a math assignment. She fetched the paper from her dorm and the two discussed the relevant issues at the library. They found each other attractive and smart.

In 1952, Gu Chaohao completed his postgraduate study and became a lecturer. In 1953, Hu Hesheng became a master in mathematics. They married in 1957.

In October, 1952, Professor Su Buqing came to Fudan University in Shanghai and served as the director of the Mathematics Department. Professor Su finally became the president of Fudan University. Gu Chaohao and his girl friend Hu Hesheng followed their master to Fudan University. In 1956, Gu Chaohao became an associate professor.

In 1957, 31-year-old Gu Chaohao came to study in Moscow University to study quasigroups. He acquired PhD degree at the university. He came back to Fudan University in 1960. In his career at Fudan, Gu Chaohao served as the dean of the math department, director of the math research institute and the vice president of the university.

Gu Chaohao made contributions to the development of China’s intercontinental missiles in 1970s. Gu and a few scientists were requested to make calculations about the air currents near the warhead flying at a supersonic speed. At that time, Fudan University had a giant computer which was so backward that it could not save files in its memory. Data would get lost if electricity was out in the middle of an operation. In order to avoid such a data loss, Gu Chaohao chose to work at night when the odds of electricity outage were most unlikely. All the complicated calculations were done at night.

In 1980, Gu Chaohao became an academician of China Academy of Sciences. In the spring of 1988, Gu Chaohao was appointed president of China University of Science and Technology.

Differential geometry, differential equation and mathematical physics constitute a golden triangle of Gu Chaohao’s mathematical world. Research and teaching have been the horizontal and vertical axes of his life equation. Over the past 60 years, he published more than 130 papers (including some 30 papers in partnerships with others) and six books. He has won numerous awards for his outstanding contributions to mathematics and to the progress of China’s science and technology.

His wife Hu Hesheng is a mathematician of international renown. In 1992 she became a member of China Academy of Sciences. She is the only female math academician with the academy. Their son is now a mathematician with PhD degree.

At 84, Gu Chaohao is now retired. He enjoys his retirement fully as an academician. Everyday he spends a regular time reading, making calculations and exploring the wonders of mathematics and physics. He chairs a weekly discussion session with young math students of Fudan University. His biggest ambition at this stage of his life is to cultivate some more mathematicians for China.