Former Residence of Zhu Kezhen in Nanjing 01 2012-11

Coching Chu (; March 7, 1890 – February 7, 1974), also romanized as Zhu Kezhen, was a Chinese

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

Life and career

Born in

Shangyu Shangyu District () is a district of the prefecture-level city of Shaoxing in the northeast of Zhejiang province, China. At the 2010 census, its population in the built-up (''or metro'') area was 779,412, up from 722,523 in the 2000 census. Shang ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

, Chu received his secondary education at the Tangshan School of Rail and Mining in Shanghai. Upon receiving the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship, Chu went to

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for his college education in 1910. He graduated from the College of Agriculture,

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

in 1913. He then studied under Robert DeCourcy Ward at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and received his Ph.D. in meteorology in 1918. From 1920 to 1929, he was chairperson of Department of Meteorology,

Nanjing University Nanjing University (NJU) is a public university in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It is affiliated and sponsored by the Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. The univers ...

(formerly known as the Nanking Higher Normal School, National Southeastern University, and National Central University). From 1929 to 1936 he served as director of the Chinese Institute of Meteorology of the

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

, which at the time was located in mainland China. Academia Sinica later became the predecessor of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

on mainland China and the

of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. From 1936 to 1949, he served as the president of National Chekiang University (now known as

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University (ZJU) is a public university, public research university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and D ...

) and elevated the institution to one of the most prestigious universities in China. During that time, he sent manuscripts relating to the history of Chinese science to Joseph Needham in England. In 1949, he was assigned to the position of vice president of the

. In 1955, he was elected an academician of the

Academic papers

''Some Chinese Contributions to Meteorology''
Geographical Review: Vol. 5, No. 2. (Feb., 1918), pp. 136–139.
''A New Classification of Typhoons of the Far East''
Monthly Weather Review: Vol. 52, No. 12. (Dec., 1924), pp. 570–579.
''The Place of Origin and Recurvature of Typhoons''
onthly Weather Review: Vol. 53, No. 1 (Jan., 1925), pp. 1–5. *''The Complete Works of Coching Chu'' Shanghai Scientific & Technological Education Publishing House

Life and career

Academic papers

References

Further reading