Lu Shijia

Lu Shijia was a Chinese physicist and aerospace engineer who helped create China's first high-speed wind tunnel. She founded and chaired the aerodynamics program at Beihang University, the first in the country. She was also a member of the China Democratic League and the National People's Congress. She was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, on March 18, 1911, as Lu Xiuzhen. Her grandfather and father were both killed by Yan Xishan during the Xinhai Revolution, and her mother gave her away to be raised by a paternal uncle. She attended the High School Attached to Beijing Normal University, where she met Qian Xuesen and her future husband Zhang Wei. She was inspired by Marie Curie to study physics at Beijing Normal University, where she graduated in 1933. She then taught at several schools before going to Germany in 1937 with the help of her maternal uncle, the renowned doctor Shi Jinmo. She studied at Göttingen University under Ludwig Prandtl, one of the founders of modern fluid mechanics, and received her Ph.D. in 1942. She was the only Chinese student and the only female graduate student of Prandtl. She returned to China in 1946 and taught at Tongji University, Peiyang University, and Tsinghua University. She married Zhang Wei, a fellow scientist and former classmate, in 1941, and they had a son and a daughter. In 1952, she became a member of the preparatory committee for the establishment of the Beijing Institute of Aeronautics (now Beihang University). In 1962, she founded Beihang's aerodynamics program, the first in China, and served as its first chair. She helped create China's first high-speed wind tunnel, which was crucial for the development of China's aerospace industry. She was nominated twice for the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but she declined both times and gave the opportunity to younger scientists. She was also a member of the first, second, and third National People's Congresses, the fifth and sixth CPPCC Standing Committees, the Standing Committee of the China Democratic League Central Committee, and the Executive Committee of the All-China Women's Federation. She died in Beijing on August 29, 1986, and her husband died in 2001. According to their will, their children mixed their ashes together and dispersed them in the lotus pond on the Tsinghua campus. On the first anniversary of her death, Qian Xuesen presided over a scientific symposium held in her memory.