Chen Shengshen

Chen Shengshen (Mandarin Roman subtitles: Shiing-shen Chern, October 28, 1911 - December 3, 2004), born in Xiushui, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, was a Chinese-American mathematician and differential geometer who had a significant influence on mathematics and physics in the 20th century. Academician of the German National Academy of Sciences, academician of Academia Sinica, foreign academician of the British Academy, Italian National Academy of Sciences, French Royal Society, and Chinese Academy of Sciences. Chen Shengshen was one of the world's most important differential geometers and one of the most influential mathematicians in the 20th century. He had long served as a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Chicago. Chern presided over the establishment of the National Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Berkeley in 1982 and served as the first director of the institute. The institute has become one of the most important mathematical research centers in the world. In 1985, Chen Shengshen founded the Nankai University Chen Shengshen Institute of Mathematics at Nankai University. In memory of Chern, the International Mathematical Union established the "Chern Award" in 2010 to commend individuals who have made the most significant contributions to the field of mathematics. It is one of the highest honors in the international mathematics community. Chen Shengshen's theorems and theories (Chern-Gauss-Bonnet theorem, Chen-Simons theory, Chen Lei) have very important applications in geometry, topology, physics, relativity, quantum field theory, etc. Physicist Yang Zhenning ranked Chen Xingshen with Euclid, Gauss, Riemann, and Cartan. He spoke English, German, French, and Chinese and helped build a bridge between the West and the Chinese.