Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1991

Citations Prof- Zhou Guangzhao Prof. Zhou Guangzhao is a well-known public figure in China and overseas. A prominent physicist re­ spected all over the world, Prof. Zhou specializes in elementary particles, the physics o f explosions and radiational fluidic dynamics, and boasts a publica­ tion record o f over 100 signifi­ cant articles. He is the president o f the Chinese Academ y o f Sciences, with a gargantuan staff o f over 90,000. In recent years, he has devoted a great deal of his energy to a series o f reforms, and mapped out a bright future for the institution. Although Prof. Zhou has been able to keep a perfect balance between scholar­ ship and administrative work, his double career did not exactly come as planned. Prof. Zhou believes that the road one travels is often determined by a number o f unforeseen factors but that the secret of success lies in trying one's best. Forty-five years ago, before Prof. Zhou was admitted to Tsing Hua University, he had barely finished the fifth year o f his secondary education because o f the war. As a result, he had not had any physics, but he was able to finish the reading for the entire course w ithin a short space o f four months and got himself accepted by the nation's most outstanding tertiary institution in science and technology. Upon his graduation, Prof. Zhou went on to Russia for fur­ ther studies. The period between 1957 and 1960 can be said to be his golden period, when he was able to forge ahead with his research in physics, and, at the same time, to pick up skiing, a hobby he still relishes today. In 1960 Prof. Zhou was unexpectedly forced to interrupt his personal research when he was recalled to China, where he participated successfully in the national defence project, a fact known to all o f us. And since the seventies, Prof. Zhou has become in ­ creasingly involved in the adminsitration o f the top research academy o f the nation. In his busy schedule, skiing, or, for that matter, his other favourite sport of swimming, has become a luxury. From what I know, Prof. Zhou nowadays manages at best to take a walk occasionally for relaxation. A t times, pacing in his office seems to have become the only way o f keeping himself physically fit. As president o f the Chinese Academy o f Sciences, Prof. Zhou is particularly concerned about how results of scientific and tech­ nological research can be put to the service of the community. To that end, the academy has been keeping a good balance between high-calibre research and pro fit­ able high technology industry. A t first sight, the two enterprises do not seem to go together and imple­ menting them at the same time might seem to be an impossible task. Prof. Zhou first called for the dismantling of the traditional closed system in favour o f some sort o f open-door policy. More than 80 laboratories have since been made available to scientists in and out of China who wish to come and conduct individual or collaborative research. An increasing number o f the academy's staff have also been abroad fo r short visits. Greater emphasis has also been placed on interdisciplinary research, one good example being collaborations between the electronic and optical sciences. To further improve coordination between aca- demia and industry, Prof. Zhou has also arranged to have approximately 10 per cent of his work force go out o f the academy to start their own enterprises or to cooperate w ith industry. Some o f these notable 42ND CONGREGATION 5