Chia-Kun (John) Chu () was a Chinese-American applied mathematician who was the Fu Foundation Professor Emeritus of Applied Mathematics at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He had been on Columbia faculty since 1965 and served as the department chairman of applied physics and nuclear engineering three times (1982–1983, 1985–1988, 1995–1997). Chu received a bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from Chiao-Tung University in 1948, a master's from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1950, and a Ph.D. from Courant Institute,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 1959. He was an internationally recognized applied mathematician and one of the pioneers of computational mathematics in fluid dynamics, magnetohydrodynamics, and shock waves. He developed approximations to the differential equations of fluid dynamics and coined the term "computational fluid dynamics". Chu received numerous honors. He was a recipient of

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

and was elected fellow of

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

and fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from

in 2006. Chia-Kun Chu was the son of bank chairman Ju Tang Chu. Chia-Kun Chu was also the brother-in-law of

Z.Y. Fu Z.Y. Fu, also known as Dze Nyoe Fu in Shanghainese or Fu Zaiyuan in Mandarin (; 1919 – August 26, 2011) was a Chinese-Japanese entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Sansaio Trading Corporation of Japan. The Fu Foundation School of Eng ...

, a Columbia donor who gave his name for the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chu, Chia-Kun (John) 21st-century American physicists 20th-century American mathematicians Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni Cornell University College of Engineering alumni Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences alumni Fluid dynamicists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American academics of Chinese descent Fellows of the American Physical Society Columbia University faculty Scientists from Shanghai