Mathematician Qian Hong, son of top scientific clan, leaves US for China
Return of pioneering scientists’ latest generation prompts more attention than usual among a growing trend
After more than 40 years in the United States, Qian Hong has left his endowed professorship at the University of Washington to join the prestigious and private Westlake University in eastern China.
Qian’s appointment last month as a full-time chair professor with the university’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, reversed a long-standing family tradition of moving to the US and drew more attention than usual in China’s scientific community.
Generations of Qians have shaped the country’s pursuit of modernity and few names carry as much weight.
However, for decades, many of the clan’s brightest scientific minds have left for the United States where they became stars in American universities, often never to return. Among them was the Nobel-winning physicist Roger Y. Tsien, a nephew of Qian Xuesen.