Ph.D., Plant Genetics, 1959
Chang Te-Tzu, who was born in 1927 in Shanghai, graduated from the University of Nanking with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture in 1949. After graduation, Chang worked for the Council of Agriculture in Guangzhou until 1950 when he moved to Taiwan and served as a technician in the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1952, Chang went to Cornell University to study plant genetics and received a master of science degree in 1954. Then Chang continued his studies at the University of Minnesota where he received a doctoral degree in plant genetics in 1959.
Chang went back to Taiwan after graduation and in 1961, he moved to the Philippines and served as the head of the International Rice Germplasm Center at the International Rice Research Institute in Laguna until his retirement in 1991. The center was later renamed the T. T. Chang Genetic Resources Center in honor of him. He returned to Taiwan after retirement, and continued to make contributions on rice breeding and germplasm at the National Crop Germplasm Center.
Chang was appointed to the Pontifical Academy Sciences in 1997 and was a member of several other academies, including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Third World Academy of Sciences. He received many prizes and awards during his distinguished care
er, including the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement and the Frank Meyer Award and Medal on Plant Germplasm. As one of the principal plant geneticists in the world, Chang made major contributions to the alleviation of hunger through the development of improved varieties of rice. His research on evolution and variation in rice led to advances in the productivity of a number of strains and their resistance to disease.
Photo Source:tylerprize.usc.edu
张德慈，1927年出生于上海，1949年毕业于南开大学，获农学学士学位。毕业后，张德慈供职于广州农业部。1950年，张德慈迁居台湾，在农业部担任技术工程师。1952年，张德慈就读康奈尔大学，学习植物遗传学，1954年获得硕士学位。随后，张德慈在明尼苏达大学攻读植物遗传学博士学位并于1959年毕业。
毕业后，张德慈回到台湾；1961年，张德慈迁居菲律宾，在国际水稻研究所的国际水稻种质资源中心担任领导直至1991年退休。这个中心后来以他的名字命名——张德慈遗传研究中心。退休后张德慈回到台湾，在国立农作物种质资源中心为大米育种和种质资源研究做贡献。
1997年，张德慈入选科学院，他还是很多其他研究机构的成员，包括美国国家科学院、美国艺术科学院、第三世界科学院等。张德慈在他杰出的职业生涯中获奖，包括泰勒环境成就奖、国际农艺学奖、弗兰克迈耶植物种质资源奖等。
作为世界级植物遗传学专家，张德慈通过提高水稻多样性为缓解世界粮食危机做出突出贡献。他对于发展和提高水稻多样性的研究提高了很多品种的产量和抗病能力。