Steven Chu

Steven Chu

Steven Chu, born in St. Louis, Missouri, USA on February 28, 1948, is the 12th Secretary of energy of the United States, the winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics, a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and currently a professor of physics at Stanford University.

Chu graduated from the University of Rochester in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a bachelor's degree in physics. He received a doctorate in physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1976. In 1978, he served as the director of the American Physical Society; in 1993, he was awarded the king Fisher International Science Prize; in 1994, he was awarded the Arthur Shaw Prize and the William Meggs prize; in 1997, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. On June 5, 1998, he was elected as a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. From 2004 to 2008, Chu served as director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. On December 15, 2008, Obama, the 44th president of the United States, nominated him as the 12th energy secretary of the United States.

Professor Chu has been engaged in atomic physics and laser science for a long time. Due to the independent and pioneering research in laser cooling and trapping of atoms.

Character experience

Born on February 28, 1948 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, a scholar's home.

In 1968, he was awarded the Stoddard prize for mathematics by the University of Rochester.

In 1970, he was awarded the Stoddard physics prize and the Woodrow Wilson scholarship from the University of Rochester.

In 1970, he graduated from the University of Rochester with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a bachelor's degree in physics.

From 1970 to 1974, he was awarded the National Science Foundation doctoral preparatory scholarship.

In 1976, he received a doctorate in physics from the University of California, Berkeley.

From 1976 to 1978, he did postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley.

From 1977 to 1978, he was awarded the National Science Foundation postdoctoral scholarship.

In 1978, he worked in Bell Telephone laboratory.

In 1978, he served as a director of the American Physical Society.

From 1978 to 1983, he worked as a researcher in Bell laboratory of electromagnetic phenomena.

From 1983 to 1987, he was the director of Quantum Electronics Research Department of Bell laboratory of at & T, leading the research work of electronization.

In 1983, he began to study atomic cooling technology.

In 1985, he published his first academic paper.

From 1987 to 1992, he completed the main work of the Nobel Prize winning scientific research project in Stanford University.

In 1987, he was awarded the boyda prize of American Physical Society in the field of laser spectroscopy.

In 1987, he was professor of physics and applied physics at Stanford University. So far, he is the first Chinese American professor in Stanford University.

From 1987 to 1988, he was a lecturer of Morris lober at Harvard University.

In 1989, he was a visiting scholar of the Joint Institute of Experimental Astrophysics.

He was a visiting professor and director of the American Academy of optics in 1990.

In 1990, he was invited to give a speech at the Richter Meyer Memorial Prize of the American Physical Society and the American Institute of physics teachers.

From 1990 to 1993, he was the director of the Department of physics at Stanford University.

In 1992, he was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In 1993, he was awarded the king Fisher International Science Award.

In June 1993, he was a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

In 1994, he was awarded the Arthur Shaw Prize of American Physical Society in laser science and the William Meggs prize of American Optical Society.

In 1997, he won the Nobel Prize in physics at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for "the invention of the method of cooling and trapping atoms by laser". Along with him are American scientist William Phillips and French scientist Coen tanughi. He is the fifth Chinese American scientist to win the Nobel Prize after Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao in 1957, Ding Zhaozhong in 1976 and Li Yuanzhe 11 years ago. After him, there are also three Chinese - Princeton University Professor Cui Qi, British and American Chinese Kao Kun won the Nobel Prize in physics, and Chinese American Qian Yongjian won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. Among the eight Chinese American winners, except for Li Yuanzhe and Qian Yongjian, the rest are physics prizes.

On November 2, 1997, President Jiang Zemin, who was on a visit to the United States, met with Chu in Los Angeles. He asked Chu to return to China frequently. Chu said that he had been to China twice and was willing to make efforts to promote scientific and technological exchanges between the United States and China.

On November 4, 1997, Xu Shanyan, Secretary of the Secretariat of the China Association for science and technology, met with Chu at Stanford University. In his office, Chu warmly received the delegation of China Association for science and technology led by Xu Shanyan. Chu suggested to the Chinese side that more talents should be trained, and those who have worked hard and made achievements should be rewarded, so as to encourage everyone's enterprising spirit.

On June 5, 1998, he was elected as a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and was awarded the honorary doctor of Science degree of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in the same year.

In June 2004, he was appointed director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory under the US Department of energy in California. He is the first Asian to run the National Laboratory of the U.S. Department of energy. The laboratory has an annual budget of US $650 million and 4000 employees.

On December 15, 2008, Obama, the 56th president-elect of the United States, nominated him as the 12th energy secretary of the United States.

On January 20, 2009, the U.S. Senate approved Chu's nomination as secretary of energy without objection.

From July 14 to July 17, 2009, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke jointly visited China. This is the first time in the history of Sino US relations that two Chinese American ministers have visited China at the same time. It is also another visit to China by senior US ministers after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The U.S. Department of energy said in a statement that the theme of the visit is to seek the common interests of the two countries in developing clean energy.

On July 15, 2009, he delivered a speech at Tsinghua University, calling on China and the United States to join hands in tackling global warming.

On July 17, 2009, I came to Tianjin University to discuss energy research issues with teachers and visit "Beiyang lecture hall" to give teachers and students a lecture on "energy and climate: common challenges, common opportunities", share the growth process with teachers and students, and discuss the world development trend of sustainable energy.

On November 15, 2010, he delivered a speech entitled "promoting innovation, meeting energy and climate challenges" in Jiading campus of Tongji University, Shanghai, to explore how the two sides can carry out clean energy technology cooperation in the future.

On February 1, 2013, he submitted his resignation to President Obama.

On March 29, 2016, he served as vice chairman of the global energy Internet development cooperation organization.

Main achievements

Achievements in scientific research

Chu is engaged in the world's most cutting-edge research on laser cooling capture technology, which has a very wide range of practical applications. This research has opened a way for human beings to emancipate the interaction between radiation and matter, especially to deeply understand the quantum physical properties of gas at low temperature. In atomic and molecular physics, it is very difficult to study the atoms and molecules of gases, because even at room temperature, they will move in all directions at a speed of more than 100 kilometers. The only feasible way is to cool them. However, the general cooling method will make the gas condense into liquid and freeze. Chu and other three scholars used lasers to cool the gas, that is, to reach an absolute temperature of one in ten thousand with a laser beam, which is very close to absolute zero (273 degrees below zero centigrade). Once the atom is trapped in it, it will become very slow and easy to capture. This technology can be used for accurate measurement, especially for "gravity measurement"; people can also use this technology to make gravity analysis maps, thus solving many mysteries on the earth: for example, observing the inner layer of oil fields, exploring minerals in the seabed or strata, and interpreting the code of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in biotechnology; scientists can also use this technology to study "atomic laser" It can also measure gravity, further develop space and space systems, and carry out accurate ground satellite positioning. Scientists generally believe that this is indeed a remarkable research achievement.

Besides teaching, Chu continued to focus on the research of atomic cooling technology, which he had been fascinated by since 1983, and published his first academic paper in 1985. From 1987 to 1992, he created a low temperature close to absolute zero in Stanford University Laboratory, which slowed down the speed of atoms. He was praised as "able to catch atoms". With this pioneering work, Chu won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1997. The Nobel Prize has brought Chu a global reputation. He has convinced some large enterprises to donate money and personally presided over the construction of the world's first Bio-X laboratory at Stanford, which is also the most advanced Bio-X laboratory in the world. He has also created the world's top physics laboratories such as precision measurement laboratory and Bose Einstein laboratory. In these laboratories, Chu came and went, and a batch of scientific rookies grew up under his guidance.

Honorary recognition

He was elected as a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on June 5, 1998.

Family members

Zhu zhunian, Chu's grandfather, was a scholar in Chengxiang town of Taicang, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. He attached great importance to the cultivation of talents

Chinese PinYin : Zhu Di Wen