ZJU faculty and students pay tribute to China’s “nuclear commander” CHENG Kaijia

Zhejiang University alumnus CHENG Kaijia, fellow of the Chinese Academy of Science, the winner of the “Two Bombs and One Star” Meritorious Medal, the winner of the 2013 National Science and Technology Award, and the winner of the “August 1st Medal”in 2017, passed away at the age of 101 years in Beijing on Nov. 17.

CHENG graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics from Zhejiang University in 1941. In 1946, he studied at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and obtained a doctorate in 1948. He then became a researcher at the Institute of the Royal Chemistry Industry. After returning to China in 1950, Cheng worked for Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, the Ninth Academy of Second Machinery Ministry and the Institute at China Nuclear Test Base, among others. Due to his unrivaled contributions to research into nuclear weapons, he was hailed as China’s “nuclear commander”.

ZJU faculty and students mourned the passing of CHENG Kaijia and expressed their condolences in various ways.