Cha Chien 査谦

Cha Chien 査谦

M.S., Mathematics, 1921
Ph.D., Physics, 1923

Cha Chien, who was born in 1896, was the first Chinese student to earn a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He received a bachelor of arts in literature from Jinling University in Nanjing in 1919 and then enrolled at the University of Minnesota where he earned a masters of science in mathematics by 1921. The anti-imperialist May Fourth Movement prompted him to further his education in physics instead of politics, as he had hoped. He earned a Ph.D. in physics in 1923.

Upon returning to China in 1923, Cha worked as a professor at National Southeastern University (later renamed Nanjing University). Wanting to develop a more substantial department of physics for undergraduates, Cha wrote a letter to University of Minnesota physics Professor H.A. Erikson seeking advice.

In 1932 he moved to Wuhan University to serve as a faculty member and head the department of physics. He led efforts to establish the Central China Institute of Technology (later renamed Central China University of Science and Technology) and served as its first president for 22 years. As a well-respected educator, he proposed “Science for China,” with the thinking that understanding the natural sciences is crucial for a country’s development.

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査谦, 1896年出生于安徽省当涂县,是首位获得明尼苏达大学博士学位的中国留学生 。他1919年从南京金陵大学文学院本科毕业,正值“五四”运动爆发,他认为“官做不得,学物理可不依赖政治”,故于1920年来到美国明尼苏达大学攻读物理学,1921年获得数学专业理学硕士学位,1923年获得物理学博士学位,成为首位拿到明尼苏达大学博士学位的中国留学生。

1923年学成归国后,査谦在国立东南大学(后并入南京大学)担任物理学教授,为了给中国本科学生提供更好的物理教育,査谦曾于1922年致信他在明尼苏达大学的导师、物理学教授H.A. Erikson寻求建议。1932年他在武汉大学担任物理教授和物理系主任。1953年,査谦主持筹建了华中工学院(后更名为华中科技大学),并于1953至1975年出任其第一任校长。他提出“科学兴国”的口号,认为自然科学对全民族兴衰存亡至关重要。作为一位德高望重的教育家,查谦为中国培养了大批物理学人才和不少有名望的物理学教授。