C. S. Wu

Biography

Abstract

Chien-Shiung Wu was Michael I. Pupin Professor of Physics at Columbia University (1972-1981). Other institutional affiliations include University of California, Berkeley, Smith College, and Princeton University. Her research included work on beta decay and parity nonconservation.

Important Dates

May 31, 1912Birth, Shanghai (China).

1934Obtained BS in Physics, National Central University (Zhong yang da xue), Nanjing (Jiangsu Sheng, China).

1940Obtained PhD in Physics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley (Calif.).

1940 – 1942Resident Fellow and Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley (Calif.).

1942 – 1943Assistant Professor, Smith College.

1943 – 1944Instructor, Princeton University.

1944 – 1997Scientist, Division of War Research (1944-1946); Research Associate (1946-1952); Associate Professor of Physics (1952-1957); Professor of Physics (1958-1972); Michael I. Pupin Professor of Physics (1972-1981); and Michael I. Pupin Professor Emeritus of Physics (1981-1997), Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1958Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1975Awarded National Medal of Science.

1975Awarded Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics, American Physical Society.

1975President, American Physical Society.

1975 – 1982Member, Advisory Committee to the Director, National Institutes of Health.

1978Awarded Wolf Foundation Prize in Physics.

February 16, 1997Death, New York (N.Y.).

Occupation

Nuclear physicist.

Places

Birth

Shanghai (China)

Undergraduate Education

Nanjing (Jiangsu Sheng, China)

Graduate Education

Berkeley (Calif.)

Employment

New York (N.Y.)

Death

New York (N.Y.)

Subjects

Beta decay.

Nuclear physics.

Women in science.

Women physicists.

Relationships

People

Family

Fan, Funhua

Mother.

Wu, Yi-Feng

Grandfather.

Wu, Zhong-Yi

Father.

Yuan, Luke C. L.

Husband.

Yuan, Vincent

Son.

Advisors & Collaborators

Boehm, Felix

Advised by Wu at Columbia University and both employed at Columbia University.

Hitlin, David

Adviser by Wu at Columbia University, "Hyperfine structure in muonic X-rays."

Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958

PhD advisor at University of California, Berkeley, "I. The Internal and External Continuous X-rays Excited by the Beta-particles of P.: II. Some Fission Products of Uranium," and both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Moszkowski, Steven A.

Co-wrote "Beta Decay".

Segrè, Emilio

PhD advisor at University of California, Berkeley, "The Internal and External Continuous X-rays Excited by the Beta-particles of P." and both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Colleagues

Alvarez, Luis W., 1911-1988

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Birge, Raymond T. (Raymond Thayer), 1887-

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Bleakney, Walker, 1901-1992

Both employed at Princeton University.

Booth, Eugene

Both employed at Columbia University.

Brillouin, Léon, 1889-1969

Both employed at Columbia University.

Brode, Robert B. (Robert Bigham), 1900-1986

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Brown, Harold, 1927-2019

Both employed at Columbia University.

Christ, Norman

Both employed at Columbia University.

Commins, Eugene D.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Cummins, Herman Z., 1933-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Davis, Bergen, 1869-1958

Both employed at Columbia University.

Devons, Samuel

Both employed at Columbia University.

Dunning, John R. (John Ray), 1907-1975

Both employed at Columbia University.

Feinberg, Gerald, 1933-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954

Both employed at Columbia University.

Fletcher, James Chipman, 1919-1991

Both employed at Princeton University.

Foley, Henry Michael, 1917-1982

Both employed at Columbia University.

Goldhaber, Gerson

Both employed at Columbia University.

Guth, Alan H.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Happer, William, 1939-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Helmholz, August Carl, 1915-2003

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Henley, Ernest M.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Hughes, Vernon W.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Javan, Ali, 1926-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Kahn, Steven Michael

Both employed at Columbia University.

Kinoshita, T. (Toichiro)

Both employed at Columbia University.

Kroll, Norman Myles, 1922-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Kusch, Polykarp, 1911-1993

Both employed at Columbia University.

Lamb, Willis E. (Willis Eugene), 1913-2008

Both employed at Columbia University.

Lederman, Leon M.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Lee, T. D., 1926-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Loeb, Leonard B. (Leonard Benedict), 1891-

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Low, Francis E. (Francis Eugene), 1921-2007

Both employed at Columbia University.

Luttinger, Joaquin M.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Mayer, Maria Goeppert, 1906-1972

Both employed at Columbia University.

McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Nagamiya, S. (Shoji)

Both employed at Columbia University.

Nierenberg, William Aaron, 1919-2000

Both employed at Columbia University.

Novick, Robert

Both employed at Columbia University.

Nygren, David R.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Pegram, George Braxton, 1876-1958

Both employed at Columbia University.

Pekeris, C. L. (Chaim Leib), 1908-1993

Both employed at Columbia University.

Peoples, John, Jr.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Primakoff, H. (Henry), 1914-1983

Both employed at Columbia University.

Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988

Both employed at Columbia University.

Rainwater, L. James (Leo James), 1917-1986

Both employed at Columbia University.

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Both employed at Columbia University.

Robertson, H. P. (Howard Percy), 1903-1961

Both employed at Princeton University.

Ruderman, Malvin A.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Sachs, Allan M. (Allan Maxwell), 1921-1989

Both employed at Columbia University.

Sachs, Robert Green, 1916-

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Samios, Nicholas P.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Schawlow, Arthur L., 1921-1999

Both employed at Columbia University.

Schwartz, Melvin, 1932-2006

Both employed at Columbia University.

Schwinger, Julian, 1918-1994

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Sciulli, Frank J.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Serber, R. (Robert)

Both employed at Columbia University.

Shenstone, A. G. (Allen Goodrich)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Smyth, Henry De Wolf, 1898-1986

Both employed at Princeton University.

Spitzer, Lyman, 1914-1997

Both employed at Columbia University.

Steinberger, J.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Thomas, Llewellyn Hilleth, 1903-1992

Both employed at Columbia University.

Ting, S. C. C. (Samuel Chao-chung), 1936-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Townes, Charles H.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Weinberg, Erick J.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Weinberg, Steven, 1933-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wick, G. C. (Gian Carlo)

Both employed at Columbia University.

Wilson, Robert R., 1914-2000

Both employed at Princeton University and Columbia University.

Additional

Ambler, Ernest, 1923-

Blewett, John P. (John Paul), 1910-

Moche, Dinah L., 1936-

Pauli, Hertha, 1909-1973

Pauli, Wolfgang, 1900-1958

Telegdi, Val, 1922-2006

Institutions

Major Positions

Columbia University. Department of Physics

Research Associate; Associate Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Michael I. Pupin Professor of Physics; and Michael I. Pupin Professor Emeritus of Physics.

Columbia University. Division of War Research

Scientist.

Princeton University. Department of Physics

Instructor.

Smith College

Assistant Professor.

University of California, Berkeley. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD (1940). Resident Fellow and Lecturer.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Physical Society

President and received 1975 Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

National Institutes of Health (U.S.)

Member, Advisory Committee to the Director.

Wolf Foundation Prizes

Received 1978 Wolf Foundation Prize in Physics.

Zhong yang da xue (Nanjing Shi, China)

Obtained BS in Physics (1934).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Bicentennial session on the history of pioneering American physicists [sound recording] / 1976 April 28.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

C. S. Wu papers, 1945-1994 (bulk 1960-1979).

University Archives, Columbiana Library

Columbia University

210 Low Memorial Library, 535 W. 116th Street, MC 4316, New York, NY 10027, USA

Distinguished speaker session [sound recording] / 1975 April 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

John P. Blewett papers, 1821-2000 (bulk 1940-1995).

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Selected talks from the International Conference on the History of Original Ideas and Basic Discoveries in Particle Physics [sound recording] / 1994.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Women in science [sound and video recordings], circa 1975.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

20th Century Chinese Physicists and Physics [sound recording], 2014 March 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Columbia University Department of Physics records, 1870-1983 (bulk 1940-1970).

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Columbia University

Butler Library, 6th Floor East, New York, NY 10027, USA

Contributions of 20th century women to physics [online resource], 1900-1976.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Letter to Chien Shiung Wu concerning her brother, Wolfgang Pauli, 1959.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Emilio Gino Segrè, 1967 February 13.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Ernest Ambler, 1988 July 7, July 27 and September 22.

NIST Research Library and NIST Archives

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Information Services Division. 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2500, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Oral history interview with Valentine L. Telegdi, 2008 March 4 and 9.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Published Resources

Author

Ban ge shi ji de ke xue sheng ya : Wu Jianxiong, Yuan Jialiu wen ji = Scientific careers of half a century : selected papers and lectures of Chien Shiung Wu and Lake C. L. Yuan / Feng Duan, Lu Tan zhu bian.

Beta decay / [by] C. S. Wu [and] S. A. Moszkowski.

Madame Wu Chien-Shiung : the first lady of physics research / Chiang Tsai-Chien ; translated by Wong Tang-Fong.

Nuclear physics / Edited by Luke C.L. Yuan [and] Chien-Shiung Wu.

Subject

"Chien-Shiung Wu: (1912-1997)," in Out of the Shadows: Contributions of Twentieth-Century Women to Physics, ed. Nina Byers and Gary Williams (New York: Cambridge University Press: 2006), 272-281

"Chien-Shiung Wu: 1912-1997", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

C. S. Wu Columbia University "Columbia 250" Profile

Chien-shiung Wu : pioneering nuclear physicist / Richard Hammond.

Chien-Shiung Wu Physics Today obituary.