Among physicists, Wu Ta-you was known as a mentor of Nobel laureates and a scholar of great moral character. In government and academia, he occasionally stood out as a standard-bearer for social concern. Today, as admirable role models grow fewer and fewer and society lavishes attention on empty sensationalism, the passing of such a learned man is especially unfortunate.
Early in the first spring of the new millennium, amid cold and drizzle and the din of electioneering, Wu Ta-you passed away.
Known as the "father of modern Chinese physics," Wu Ta-you, former president of the Academia Sinica, died at National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 92 years of age. Wu Ta-you had spent his whole life in the pursuit of truth, without compromise. His devoted follower, former National Tsinghua University president Shen Chun-shan, remarked that Dr. Wu contributed everything he was able to give. "I feel sad, but it must have been a release for him."
A ceremony for Wu Ta-you was held at the Academia Sinica's Academic Activities Center on 25 March. Those who paid their respects included current Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh, and fellow Nobel laureates Yang Chen-ming and Li Cheng-tao, who were both taught by Wu. The Academia Sinica has set up an account for donations to the Wu Ta-you Memorial Foundation, established to continue supporting science education in Wu's name.
Also known as "the father of Taiwanese science," Wu was born in Guangzhou in September 1907, and graduated from the physics department at Tianjin's Nankai University in 1929. In 1931, he continued his studies abroad at the University of Michigan, earning a doctorate in 1933. Afterward he served as professor at Beijing University, the University of Michigan and Columbia University, as director of the National Research Council of Canada's theoretical physics team, and as head of New York State University's physics department. In 1956 he accepted Hu Shih's invitation to teach at National Taiwan University (NTU) and Tsinghua University. This was Wu Ta-you's first contact with Taiwan's academic community. Later, he served as director of the ROC Science Education Steering Committee and chairman of the Ministry of Education's Science Education Committee. In 1983 he accepted the post of Academia Sinica president, from which he retired in 1994. For his outstanding scholarly achievements, he won the Philippines' Raymond Magsaysay award in 1984.
Professor Sun Kuan-han, known as the "father of Chinese nuclear science," worked with Wu on academic projects, and describes him as serious in his pursuit of scholastic endeavors, practical in his actions, principled, and committed to his beliefs. In particular, he "took exception to the unacceptable," which led him to care deeply for society.
Lee Yuan-tseh recalls that Wu worked to establish the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Science and the Institute of Molecular Biology. He also revamped the Academia Sinica's organizational charter, which had not been revised in 60 years, initiating an evaluation system for hiring and promoting researchers, freeing the academy of some of its structural limitations, and raising the level of Taiwan's scientific development.
Wu Ying-chih, Wu Ta-you's foster daughter who lived with him for more than 30 years, says that although he was solitary, he was never lonely. He always had a childlike heart, and a generous sense of humor. Indifference to fame and fortune, a pair of shabby old shoes, and a 30-year-old suit were his trademarks.
Wu stressed throughout his life that the most important thing for an intellectual to possess is moral fortitude. On his 90th birthday, he recalled that perhaps his greatest contributions to Taiwan were in appealing to President Chiang Kai-shek not to prohibit citizens from studying abroad, and opposing Taiwan's development of nuclear weapons. "It was the right thing for young people of this generation and the next."
Shen Chun-shan says that Wu Ta-you's greatest unfulfilled wish was to write a history of contemporary Chinese physics. Even during his final illness, he did not forget this project. Motioning his words in the air from his sickbed, he asked Shen to go to the Peking University physics department to gather information with which to bring his work to fruition. But, says Shen with regret, "It was too late to achieve this vision." Today, how many people show Dr. Wu's spirit of professionalism and commitment?
The world knew Wu Ta-you as the "father of Chinese physics," and in many ways he embodied the early development of physics in China. His studies in quantum energy had a profound influence on Chinese physics during his generation. In his later years, what people mentioned most about Wu was his passion for life and his concern for society. His death symbolizes the end of an era when intellectuals were renaissance men. As we mourn the passing of Wu Ta-you, let us also hope that the honor and remembrance of this Chinese scholar will not be extinguished, and that others will follow in his footsteps.
