Shiing-Shen Chern
Encyclopedia
Shiing-Shen Chern was a Chinese American
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...

 mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

, one of the leaders in differential geometry
Differential geometry and topology
Differential geometry is a mathematical discipline that uses the techniques of differential and integral calculus, as well as linear and multilinear algebra, to study problems in geometry. The theory of plane and space curves and of surfaces in the three-dimensional Euclidean space formed the basis...

 of the twentieth century.

Early years in China

Chern was born in Xiushui County (秀水縣), Jiaxing
Jiaxing
Jiaxing is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province of Eastern China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the province of Jiangsu to the north....

, in Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...

 province. The year after his birth, China changed its regime from the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 to the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

. He graduated from Xiushui Middle School (秀水中學) and subsequently moved to Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

 in 1922 to accompany his father. In 1926 after spending four years, Chern graduated from Fulun High School (扶輪中學) in Tianjin.

At age 15, Chern entered the Faculty of Sciences of the Nankai University
Nankai University
Nankai University , commonly known as Nankai, is a public research university based in Tianjin on mainland China. Founded in 1919 by educators Zhang Boling and Yan Fansun , Nankai University is a member of the Nankai serial schools. It is the alma mater of former Chinese Premier and key historical...

 in Tianjin, studied mathematics there, and graduated with BSc in 1930. At Nankai, Chern's mentor was Li-Fu Chiang (姜立夫), a Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

-trained geometer who was also from Zhejiang.

At Nankai, Chern was also heavily influenced by physicist Hu Guoding (胡國定) who was also from Zhejiang. Hu now is considered as one of founding fathers of modern Chinese informatics
Informatics (academic field)
Informatics is the science of information, the practice of information processing, and the engineering of information systems. Informatics studies the structure, algorithms, behavior, and interactions of natural and artificial systems that store, process, access and communicate information...

.

Chern went to Beiping (now Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

) to teach at the Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University , colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911 under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang" or "Tsinghua College" and was renamed the "Tsinghua School" one year later...

 Department of Mathematics as a teaching assistant. At the same time he also registered at Tsinghua Graduate School
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...

 as a master student. He studied projective differential geometry
Projective differential geometry
In mathematics, projective differential geometry is the study of differential geometry, from the point of view of properties that are invariant under the projective group. This is a mixture of attitudes from Riemannian geometry, and the Erlangen program....

 under Prof. Sun Guangyuan, a Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

-trained geometer and logician who was also from Zhejiang. Sun was a notable founder of modern Chinese mathematics. In 1932, Chern published his first research article in Tsinghua University Journal. In summer 1934, Chern graduated from Tsinghua with a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

, the first ever masters degree in mathematics issued by China.

C.N. Yang's father — Yang Ko-Chuen, also a Chicago-trained professor at Tsinghua but algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...

ist, also taught Chern. At the same time, Chern was C.N. Yang's teacher of undergraduate math at Tsinghua.

At Tsinghua, Hua Luogeng
Hua Luogeng
Hua Luogeng was a Chinese mathematician born in Jintan, Jiangsu. He was the founder and pioneer in many fields in mathematical research. He wrote more than 200 papers and monographs, many of which became classics. Since his sudden death while delivering a lecture at the University of Tokyo, Japan,...

, also a mathematician, was Chern's colleague and room mate.

In 1932, Wilhelm Blaschke
Wilhelm Blaschke
Wilhelm Johann Eugen Blaschke was an Austro-Hungarian differential and integral geometer.His students included Shiing-Shen Chern, Luis Santaló, and Emanuel Sperner....

 from the University of Hamburg visited Tsinghua and was impressed by Chern and his research.

In Europe

In 1934, co-funded by Tsinghua and the Chinese Foundation of Culture and Education, Chern went to continue his study in mathematics in Germany with a scholarship. Chern studied at the University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...

 and worked on the Cartan-Kähler
Erich Kähler
was a German mathematician with wide-ranging geometrical interests.Kähler was born in Leipzig, and studied there. He received his Ph.D. in 1928 from the University of Leipzig. He held professorial positions in Königsberg, Leipzig, Berlin and Hamburg...

 theory under Blaschke's guidance. He obtained his Dr. rer.nat. (Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...

, which is equivalent to PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

) degree in February, 1936. Blaschke recommended Chern to study in Paris.

In August 1936, Chern watched summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...

 in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 together with Hua Luogeng
Hua Luogeng
Hua Luogeng was a Chinese mathematician born in Jintan, Jiangsu. He was the founder and pioneer in many fields in mathematical research. He wrote more than 200 papers and monographs, many of which became classics. Since his sudden death while delivering a lecture at the University of Tokyo, Japan,...

 who paid Chern a brief visit. During that time, Hua was studying at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

 in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

In September 1936, Chern went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and worked with Élie Cartan
Élie Cartan
Élie Joseph Cartan was an influential French mathematician, who did fundamental work in the theory of Lie groups and their geometric applications...

. Chern spent one year at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...

 in Paris.

In 1937, Chern accepted Tsinghua's invitation and was promoted to professor of mathematics at Tsinghua. However, at the same time the Marco Polo Bridge Incident
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army, often used as the marker for the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War .The eleven-arch granite bridge, Lugouqiao, is an architecturally significant structure,...

 (near Beijing) happened and the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

 started, Tsinghua was forced to move away from Beijing to west China. Three universities including Peking University, Tsinghua, and Nankai formed the National Southwestern Associated University
National Southwestern Associated University
When the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out between China and Japan in 1937, Peking University, Tsinghua University and Nankai University, merged to form Changsha Temporary University in Changsha, and later National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming...

 (NSAU), and was relocated in Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...

, Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...

 province. Chern never reached Beijing. In the same year, Hua Luogeng
Hua Luogeng
Hua Luogeng was a Chinese mathematician born in Jintan, Jiangsu. He was the founder and pioneer in many fields in mathematical research. He wrote more than 200 papers and monographs, many of which became classics. Since his sudden death while delivering a lecture at the University of Tokyo, Japan,...

 was promoted to professor of mathematics at Tsinghua.

Short stay in USA

In July 1943, Chern went to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and worked at the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...

 (IAS) in Princeton
Princeton Township, New Jersey
Also Princeton Borough is an independent municipality completely surrounded by the township.Princeton North is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Princeton Township....

 on characteristic class
Characteristic class
In mathematics, a characteristic class is a way of associating to each principal bundle on a topological space X a cohomology class of X. The cohomology class measures the extent to which the bundle is "twisted" — particularly, whether it possesses sections or not...

es in differential geometry. Shortly afterwards, he was invited by Solomon Lefschetz
Solomon Lefschetz
Solomon Lefschetz was an American mathematician who did fundamental work on algebraic topology, its applications to algebraic geometry, and the theory of non-linear ordinary differential equations.-Life:...

 to be an editor of Annals of Mathematics
Annals of Mathematics
The Annals of Mathematics is a bimonthly mathematical journal published by Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study. It ranks amongst the most prestigious mathematics journals in the world by criteria such as impact factor.-History:The journal began as The Analyst in 1874 and was...

.

First return to China

Chern returned to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 in 1946 to help found the Institute of Mathematics of the Academia Sinica
Academia Sinica
The Academia Sinica , headquartered in the Nangang District of Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. It supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from mathematical and physical sciences, to life sciences, and to humanities and social sciences.Academia Sinica has...

, which was later moved to Nanking (then-capital of the Republic of China). Chern was the acting president of the institute. Wu Wenjun
Wu Wenjun
Wu Wenjun is a Chinese mathematician and academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences .-Biography:Wu's ancestral hometown is Jiashan, in Jiaxing of Zhejiang. Wu was born in Shanghai, China where he would later graduate from Chiao Tung University in 1940...

 was Chern's graduate student at the institute.

In 1948, Chern was elected one of the first academicians of the Academia Sinica. He was the youngest academician elected (at age 37).

USA

In 1949, Chern returned to the United States, again worked at the IAS. In 1949, Chern became professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

. Coincidently, E. P. Lane, former Chair at UChicago Department of Mathematics, was the doctoral advisor of Chern's undergraduate mentor at Tsinghua — Sun Guangyuan.

Chern moved to the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

 in 1960, where he worked and stayed until his retirement. In 1961, Chern became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In the same year, he was elected member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

.

In 1964, Chern was a vice-president of American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...

 (AMS).

Chern retired from Berkeley in 1981. He founded the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute , founded in 1982, is an independent nonprofit mathematical research institution whose funding sources include the National Science Foundation, foundations, corporations, and more than 90 universities and institutions...

 (MSRI) in 1981 and served as the director until 1984. Afterward he became the honorary director of the institute. MSRI now is one of the largest and most prominent mathematical institutes in the world. Shing-Tung Yau
Shing-Tung Yau
Shing-Tung Yau is a Chinese American mathematician working in differential geometry. He was born in Shantou, Guangdong Province, China into a family of scholars from Jiaoling, Guangdong Province....

 was one of his PhD students during this period.

Short visits to China

The Shanghai Communiqué
Shanghai Communiqué
The Joint Communiqué of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, also known as the Shanghai Communiqué , was an important diplomatic document issued by the United States of America and the People's Republic of China on February 27, 1972 during President Richard Nixon's visit...

 was issued by the United States and the People's Republic of China on February 27, 1972. The relationship between these two nations started normalizing, and American citizens were allowed to visit P.R.China. In September 1972, Chern with his wife visited Beijing.
During this period of time, Chern visited China for 25 times, with 14 times to his hometown Zhejiang.

Chern founded the Nankai Institute for Mathematics (NKIM) at his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

 Nankai in Tianjin. The institute was formally established in 1984 and fully opened on October 17, 1985. NKIM was renamed as the Chern Institute of Mathematics in 2004 after Chern's death.

Final years

Based on Chern's advice, a mathematical research center was established in Taipei, Taiwan, whose co-operational parters are National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University is a national co-educational university located in Taipei, Republic of China . In Taiwan, it is colloquially known as "Táidà" . Its main campus is set upon 1,086,167 square meters in Taipei's Da'an District. In addition, the university has 6 other campuses in Taiwan,...

, National Tsing Hua University
National Tsing Hua University
National Tsing Hua University is one of the most prestigious universities in Taiwan. The university has a strong reputation in the studies of science and engineering. Times Higher Education - World University Rankings is107in the world. Engineering and Science are the best in Taiwan...

 and the Sinica Academia Institute of Mathematics.

Chern was also a director and advisor of the Center of Mathematical Sciences at Zhejiang University
Center of Mathematical Sciences, Zhejiang University
Center of Mathematical Sciences , is a renowned mathematical research center in the People's Republic of China. It belongs to the Zhejiang University in Hangzhou....

 in Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...

, Zhejiang.

From 2000 to his death, Chern lived in Tianjin, China. Chern died of heart failure at his home in Tianjin in 2004 at age 93.

Research

Chern's work extends over all the classic fields of differential geometry. It includes areas currently fashionable (the Chern-Simons theory
Chern-Simons theory
The Chern–Simons theory is a 3-dimensional topological quantum field theory of Schwarz type, introduced by Edward Witten. It is so named because its action is proportional to the integral of the Chern–Simons 3-form....

 arising from a 1974 paper written jointly with Jim Simons
James Harris Simons
James Harris "Jim" Simons is an American hedge fund manager, mathematician, and philanthropist.In 1982, Simons founded Renaissance Technologies, a private investment firm based in New York with over $15 billion under management; Simons is still at the helm, as CEO, of what is now one of the...

), perennial (the Chern-Weil theory
Chern-Weil theory
In mathematics, Chern–Weil theory computes topological invariants of vector bundles and principal bundles in terms of connections and curvature. That is, the theory forms a bridge between the areas of algebraic topology and differential geometry...

 linking curvature
Curvature
In mathematics, curvature refers to any of a number of loosely related concepts in different areas of geometry. Intuitively, curvature is the amount by which a geometric object deviates from being flat, or straight in the case of a line, but this is defined in different ways depending on the context...

 invariants to characteristic class
Characteristic class
In mathematics, a characteristic class is a way of associating to each principal bundle on a topological space X a cohomology class of X. The cohomology class measures the extent to which the bundle is "twisted" — particularly, whether it possesses sections or not...

es from 1944, after the Allendoerfer
Carl B. Allendoerfer
Carl Barnett Allendoerfer was a prominent American mathematician in the mid-twentieth century, known for his work in topology and mathematics education.-Background:...

-Weil
André Weil
André Weil was an influential mathematician of the 20th century, renowned for the breadth and quality of his research output, its influence on future work, and the elegance of his exposition. He is especially known for his foundational work in number theory and algebraic geometry...

 paper of 1943 on the Gauss-Bonnet theorem), the foundational (Chern class
Chern class
In mathematics, in particular in algebraic topology and differential geometry, the Chern classes are characteristic classes associated to complex vector bundles.Chern classes were introduced by .-Basic idea and motivation:...

es), and some areas such as projective differential geometry
Projective differential geometry
In mathematics, projective differential geometry is the study of differential geometry, from the point of view of properties that are invariant under the projective group. This is a mixture of attitudes from Riemannian geometry, and the Erlangen program....

 and webs that have a lower profile. He published results in integral geometry
Integral geometry
In mathematics, integral geometry is the theory of measures on a geometrical space invariant under the symmetry group of that space. In more recent times, the meaning has been broadened to include a view of invariant transformations from the space of functions on one geometrical space to the...

, value distribution theory of holomorphic functions
Value distribution theory of holomorphic functions
In mathematics, the value distribution theory of holomorphic functions is a division of mathematical analysis. It tries to get quantitative measures of the number of times a function f assumes a value a, as z grows in size, refining the Picard theorem on behaviour close to an essential singularity...

, and minimal submanifolds.

He was a follower of Élie Cartan
Élie Cartan
Élie Joseph Cartan was an influential French mathematician, who did fundamental work in the theory of Lie groups and their geometric applications...

, working on the 'theory of equivalence' in his time in China from 1937 to 1943, in relative isolation. In 1954 he published his own treatment of the pseudogroup
Pseudogroup
In mathematics, a pseudogroup is an extension of the group concept, but one that grew out of the geometric approach of Sophus Lie, rather than out of abstract algebra...

 problem that is in effect the touchstone of Cartan's geometric theory. He used the moving frame
Moving frame
In mathematics, a moving frame is a flexible generalization of the notion of an ordered basis of a vector space often used to study the extrinsic differential geometry of smooth manifolds embedded in a homogeneous space.-Introduction:...

 method with success only matched by its inventor; he preferred in complex manifold
Complex manifold
In differential geometry, a complex manifold is a manifold with an atlas of charts to the open unit disk in Cn, such that the transition maps are holomorphic....

 theory to stay with the geometry, rather than follow the potential theory
Potential theory
In mathematics and mathematical physics, potential theory may be defined as the study of harmonic functions.- Definition and comments :The term "potential theory" was coined in 19th-century physics, when it was realized that the fundamental forces of nature could be modeled using potentials which...

. Indeed, one of his books is entitled, "Complex Manifolds without Potential Theory". In the last years of his life, he advocated the study of Finsler geometry, writing several books and articles on the subject.

Honours and awards

Chern received numerous honors and awards in his life, including:
  • 1970, Chauvenet Prize
    Chauvenet Prize
    The Chauvenet Prize is the highest award for mathematical expository writing. It consists of a prize of $1,000 and a certificate, and is awarded yearly by the Mathematical Association of America in recognition of an outstanding expository article on a mathematical topic. The prize is named in...

    , of the Mathematical Association of America;
  • 1975, National Medal of Science
    National Medal of Science
    The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...

  • 1982, Humboldt Prize
    Humboldt Prize
    The Humboldt Prize, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to internationally renowned scientists and scholars, and is currently valued at € 60,000 with the possibility of further support during the prize winner's life. Up to one...

    , Germany;
  • 1983, Leroy P. Steele Prize, of the American Mathematical Society;
  • 1984, Wolf Prize in Mathematics
    Wolf Prize in Mathematics
    The Wolf Prize in Mathematics is awarded almost annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Medicine, Physics and Arts...

    , Israel;
  • 2002, Lobachevsky Medal
    Lobachevsky Medal
    The Lobachevsky Prize, awarded by the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Lobachevsky Medal, awarded by the Kazan State University, are mathematical awards in honor of Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky.-History:...

    ;
  • 2004 May, Shaw Prize
    Shaw Prize
    The Shaw Prize is an annual award first presented by the Shaw Prize Foundation in 2004. Established in 2002 in Hong Kong, it honours living "individuals, regardless of race, nationality and religious belief, who have achieved significant breakthrough in academic and scientific research or...

     in mathematical sciences, Hong Kong;
  • 1948, Academician, Academia Sinica
    Academia Sinica
    The Academia Sinica , headquartered in the Nangang District of Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. It supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from mathematical and physical sciences, to life sciences, and to humanities and social sciences.Academia Sinica has...

    ;
  • 1950, Honorary Member, Indian Mathematical Society
    Indian Mathematical Society
    Indian Mathematical Society is the oldest organization in India devoted to the promotion of study and research in mathematics. The Society was founded in April 1907 by V. Ramaswamy Aiyer with its head-quarters at Pune. The Society started its activities under the name Analytic Club and the name...

    ;
  • 1961, Member, United States National Academy of Sciences
    United States National Academy of Sciences
    The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

    ;
  • 1963, Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
    American Academy of Arts and Sciences
    The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...

    ;
  • 1971, Corresponding Member, Brazilian Academy of Sciences
    Brazilian Academy of Sciences
    The Brazilian Academy of Sciences is the national academy of Brazil. It is headquartered in the city of Rio de Janeiro and was founded in 1916....

    ;
  • 1983, Associate Founding Fellow, TWAS;
  • 1985, Foreign Fellow, Royal Society of London, UK;
  • 1986, Honorary Fellow, London Mathematical Society
    London Mathematical Society
    -See also:* American Mathematical Society* Edinburgh Mathematical Society* European Mathematical Society* List of Mathematical Societies* Council for the Mathematical Sciences* BCS-FACS Specialist Group-External links:* * *...

    , UK;
  • 1986, Corresponding Member, Academia Peloritana, Messina, Sicily;
  • 1987, Honorary Life Member, New York Academy of Sciences
    New York Academy of Sciences
    The New York Academy of Sciences is the third oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, non-profit organization with more than members in 140 countries, the Academy’s mission is to advance understanding of science and technology...

    ;
  • 1989, Foreign Member, Accademia dei Lincei
    Accademia dei Lincei
    The Accademia dei Lincei, , is an Italian science academy, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy....

    , Italy;
  • 1989, Foreign Member, Académie des sciences
    French Academy of Sciences
    The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...

    , France;
  • 1989, Member, American Philosophical Society
    American Philosophical Society
    The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...

    ;
  • 1994, Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Chinese Academy of Sciences
    The Chinese Academy of Sciences , formerly known as Academia Sinica, is the national academy for the natural sciences of the People's Republic of China. It is an institution of the State Council of China. It is headquartered in Beijing, with institutes all over the People's Republic of China...

    .


Chern was given a number of honorary degree
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...

s, including from The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is a research-led university in Hong Kong.CUHK is the only tertiary education institution in Hong Kong with Nobel Prize winners on its faculty, including Chen Ning Yang, James Mirrlees, Robert Alexander Mundell and Charles K. Kao...

 (LL.D. 1969), University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 (D.Sc. 1969), ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....

 (Dr.Math. 1982), SUNY Stony Brook (D.Sc. 1985), TU Berlin (Dr.Math. 1986), his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

 Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...

 (D.Sc. 1971) and Nankai
Nankai University
Nankai University , commonly known as Nankai, is a public research university based in Tianjin on mainland China. Founded in 1919 by educators Zhang Boling and Yan Fansun , Nankai University is a member of the Nankai serial schools. It is the alma mater of former Chinese Premier and key historical...

 (honorary doctorate, 1985), etc.

Chern was also granted numerous honorary professorship
Honorary title (academic)
Honorary titles in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties...

s, including at Peking University
Peking University
Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...

 (Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, 1978), his alma mater Nankai (Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

, 1978), Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Systems Science (Beijing, 1980), Jinan University
Jinan University
Jinan University is a public research and comprehensive university based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China. It is one of the oldest universities established on mainland China tracing back to the Qing Empire...

 (Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

, 1980), Chinese Academy of Sciences Graduate School (1984), Nanjing University
Nanjing University
Nanjing University , or Nanking University, is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher learning in China...

 (Nanjing, 1985), East China Normal University
East China Normal University
East China Normal University , was founded in October 1951 in western Shanghai, on the campus of Great China University. It is the first Normal University founded after the establishment of the People's Republic of China.-History:...

 (Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, 1985), USTC
University of Science and Technology of China
The University of Science and Technology of China is a national research university in Hefei, People's Republic of China. It is a member of the C9 League formed by nine top universities in China...

 (Hefei
Hefei
Hefei is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province in Eastern China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural centre of Anhui...

, 1985), Beijing Normal University
Beijing Normal University
Beijing Normal University , colloqiually known as 北师大 or Beishida, is a public research university located in Beijing with strong emphasis on basic disciplines of humanities and sciences...

 (1985), Zhejiang University
Zhejiang University
Zhejiang University , sometimes referred to as Zheda, is a national university in China. Founded in 1897, Zhejiang University is one of China's oldest institutions of higher education...

 (Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...

, 1985), Hangzhou University
Hangzhou University
Since 1998, Hangzhou University has been a part of Zhejiang University....

 (1986, the university was merged into Zhejiang University in 1998), Fudan University
Fudan University
Fudan University , located in Shanghai, is one of the oldest and most selective universities in China, and is a member of the C9 League. Its institutional predecessor was founded in 1905, shortly before the end of China's imperial Qing dynasty...

 (Shanghai, 1986), Shanghai University of Technology
Shanghai University of Technology
Shanghai University of Technology was a leading public university in Shanghai, China. In 1994, the university was merged into consolidated new Shanghai University .-History:...

 (1986, the university was merged to establish Shanghai University
Shanghai University
Shanghai University is a public, comprehensive university located in Shanghai, China. The university has the longest serving President; Chien Wei-zang since 1982 until he died in 2010. He was a well known scientist in China...

 in 1994), Tianjin University
Tianjin University
Tianjin University is a national university under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education of China. It is the first university in modern Chinese education history. It was part of Peiyang University in 1895...

 (1987), Tohoku University
Tohoku University
, abbreviated to , located in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in the Tōhoku Region, Japan, is a Japanese national university. It is the third oldest Imperial University in Japan and is a member of the National Seven Universities...

 (Sendai, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, 1987), etc.

Namesake

  • The asteroid
    Asteroid
    Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

     29552 Chern
    29552 Chern
    29552 Chern is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It is named after the Chinese–American mathematician Shiing-shen Chern.-References:...

     is named after him;
  • The Chern Medal, of the International Mathematical Union
    International Mathematical Union
    The International Mathematical Union is an international non-governmental organisation devoted to international cooperation in the field of mathematics across the world. It is a member of the International Council for Science and supports the International Congress of Mathematicians...

     (IMU);
  • The Shiing-Shen Chern Prize (陳省身獎), of the Association of Chinese Mathematicians;
  • The Chern Institute of Mathematics at Nankai University
    Nankai University
    Nankai University , commonly known as Nankai, is a public research university based in Tianjin on mainland China. Founded in 1919 by educators Zhang Boling and Yan Fansun , Nankai University is a member of the Nankai serial schools. It is the alma mater of former Chinese Premier and key historical...

    , Tianjin
    Tianjin
    ' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

    , China;
  • The Chern Lectures, and the Shiing-Shen Chern Chair in Mathematics, both at the Department of Mathematics, UC Berkeley.

Family

His wife, Shih-ning Cheng, whom he married in 1939, died in 2000. He also had a daughter, May Chu , wife of the physicist Chu Ching-wu
Chu Ching-wu
Paul Chu is an Chinese-American physicist specializing in superconductivity, magnetism, and dielectrics. He is a Professor of physics and T.L.L. Temple Chair of Science in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Houston...

, and a son named Paul .

Transliteration and pronunciation

Chern's surname is a common Chinese surname which is now usually spelt Chen
Chen (surname)
Chén or Chan is one of the most common East Asian family names. It ranks as the 5th most common surname in China, as of 2007 and the most common surname in Singapore and Taiwan . Chen is also the most common family name in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hong Kong...

. The unusual spelling "Chern" is a transliteration
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...

 in the old Gwoyeu Romatzyh
Gwoyeu Romatzyh
Gwoyeu Romatzyh , abbreviated GR, is a system for writing Mandarin Chinese in the Latin alphabet. The system was conceived by Y.R. Chao and developed by a group of linguists including Chao and Lin Yutang from 1925 to 1926. Chao himself later published influential works in linguistics using GR...

 (GR) romanization
Romanization
In linguistics, romanization or latinization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman script, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system . Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written...

 for Mandarin Chinese used in the early twentieth century China. It uses special spelling rules to indicate different tones of Mandarin, which is a tonal language with four tones. The silent r in "Chern" indicates a second-tone syllable, written "Chén" in pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

 but in practice often written by non-Chinese without the tonal mark. In GR the spelling of his given name "Shiing-Shen" indicates a third tone for Shiing and a first tone for Shen, which are equivalent to the syllables "Xǐngshēn" in pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

.

In English, Chern pronounced his name "Churn," and this pronunciation is now universally accepted among English-speaking mathematicians and physicists.

See also

  • Chern classes
  • Chern–Gauss–Bonnet theorem
  • Chern–Simons theory
  • Chern–Simons form
  • Chern–Weil theory
  • Chern–Weil homomorphism

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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