Professor Chien-Shiung Wu

Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997) was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist. Born in a small town in Shanghai, Wu attended a school started by her father, who believed in education for women, despite the time period. Wu studied physics at a university in Shanghai and after graduation, she then became a research assistant when her supervisor encouraged her to pursue advanced education in America. Unable to find any research positions at a university, she became a physics instructor at both Princeton University and Smiths college. She has made many contributions, as well a being the first to confirm Enrico Fermi's theory of beta decay. In1958, her research helped answer questions about blood and sickle cell anemia. She was also the first women to be president of the American Physical Society, and was bombarded with rewards that include the National Medal of Science, the Comstock Prize, and the first honorary doctorate awarded to a woman at Princeton University.