Lifu Jiang

Lifu Jiang, original name Jiang Jiangzuo (born July 4, 1890, Zhejiang—died February 3, 1978, Guangzhou), mathematician, educator, founder of Department of Mathematics of Nankai University, and once was the director of Institute of Mathematics at the Academia Sinica.

Jiang graduated from University of California with a B.S. degree in 1915. In 1919, Jiang received a doctor of sciences degree from Harvard University. A year later, he came to Nankai University, and started his career as the founder Department of Mathematics where he devoted himself entirely in the rest of his life.

As a professor of mathematics, Jiang established and thereafter developed new geometry theories. He designed courses based on the individualized needs of each student. He cultivated a number of talented mathematicians, including Shiing-shen Chern and Zehan Jiang, over the years.

During the Anti-Japanese War, three universities including Peking University, Tsinghua, and Nankai formed the National Southwestern Associated University (NSAU), Jiang taught at NSAU for years. Jiang helped found and was the director of Institute of Mathematics at the Academia Sinica. Jiang founded department of Mathematics at Lingnan University in 1949, he taught there and Zhongshan University in 1952.

Jiang valued international exchanges, encouraged students to study aboard. He himself and his students translated many foreign textbooks, collected an enormous amount of valuable books for Nankai. In addition, Jiang played a major role in mathematical terms standardization, and the publication of several books concerned.