Hu Dunfu (; 1886 – December 1, 1978) was a Chinese mathematician and pioneer in higher education. He won a

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

government scholarship to study at

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 ...

, and became the first dean of

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

at the age of 25. He was then briefly dean of

Fudan University Fudan University () is a national public research university in Shanghai, China. Fudan is a member of the C9 League, Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University identified by the Ministry of Education of China. It is als ...

, before establishing

Utopia University Utopia University, known in Chinese as Datong or Tatung University, was a private university in Shanghai. It was established in March 1912 by a group of former Tsinghua faculty members led by Hu Dunfu, and became one of the most reputable priva ...

in 1912 and developing it into one of China's best private universities. He also served as head of the mathematics department of

National Chiao Tung University National Chiao Tung University (NCTU; ) was a public research university located in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Established in 1896 as Nanyang Public School by an imperial edict of the Guangxu Emperor, it was one of China's leading universities. After th ...

and the first president of the

Chinese Mathematical Society The Chinese Mathematical Society (CMS, ) is an academic organization for Chinese mathematicians, with the official websitwww.cms.org.cn It is a member of China Association of Science and Technology. History The Chinese Mathematical Society (CMS) ...

, which he co-founded in 1935.

Early life and education

Hu Dunfu was born in 1886 into a prominent family of

scholar-official The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class. Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...

s in

Wuxi Wuxi (, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu province, eastern China, by car to the northwest of downtown Shanghai, between Changzhou and Suzhou. In 2017 it had a population of 3,542,319, with 6,553,000 living in the entire prefecture-level city ar ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

Province, a descendant of the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

scholar and educator Hu Yuan ( 胡瑗; 993–1059). When he was 11, he was accepted by the elementary school of Nanyang Public School (now

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU; ) is a public research university in Shanghai, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university was established on April 8, 1896 as Nanyang Public School (南洋� ...

), and later attended its secondary school. When his teacher

Ma Xiangbo Ma Xiangbo (; April 7, 1840 – November 4, 1939) was a Chinese Society of Jesus, Jesuit Catholic priest, priest, scholar and educator in late-Qing dynasty, Qing and early-Republic of China (1912–49), Republican China. He was one of the foun ...

left Nanyang to establish

Aurora University Aurora University (AU) is a private university in Aurora, Illinois. In addition to its main campus and the Orchard Center in Aurora, AU offers programs online, at its George Williams College campus in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, and at the Woodsto ...

and later

, Hu, together with Huang Yanpei and others, followed Ma and became the first students at Aurora and then Fudan. In June 1907, Hu won a government scholarship to study in the United States, and entered

in September. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics in only two years, and returned to China in August 1909.

Career in China

In April 1911, the U.S. government established

Tsinghua College Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Project 98 ...

in Beijing, using part of the Boxer indemnity payment made by the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. Hu Dunfu was hired as the first dean of Tsinghua, at the age of 25. In summer, eleven Tsinghua faculty members established Lida Society to promote education in China, with Hu as its head. In November 1911, during the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...

, the Lida Society members resigned from Tsinghua after disagreements with the college's American administrators, and left Beijing for Shanghai. Hu was hired by Ma Xiangbo as dean of Fudan University, but soon left the school after a student strike.

In March 1912, Hu and his colleagues of Lida Society founded Utopia School in Nanshi, Shanghai, with Hu as its first president. Under his leadership, Utopia was certified as a university in 1922, and developed into one of the two most reputable private universities in China, the other being

Nankai University Nankai University (NKU or Nankai; ) is a national public research university located in Tianjin, China. It is a prestigious Chinese state Class A Double First Class University approved by the central government of China, and a member of the fo ...

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

. After Hu's friend

Li Zhaohuan Li Zhaohuan (; 1898–1969), also known as Juwan Usang Ly, was a Chinese educator, politician and banker. He served as President of National Chiao Tung University (now Shanghai Jiao Tong University) and the last President of Hangchow University. ...

became the president of

(NCTU), he invited Hu to help build NCTU's mathematics program. Hu thus became head of NCTU's mathematics department in 1930. In July 1935, Hu, together with other leading Chinese mathematicians including

Feng Zuxun Feng may refer to: *Feng (surname), one of several Chinese surnames in Mandarin: **Féng (surname) ( wikt:冯 féng 2nd tone "gallop"), very common Chinese surname **Fèng (surname) ( wikt:鳳 fèng 4th tone "phoenix"), relatively common Chinese fa ...

Xiong Qinglai Xiong Qinglai, or Hiong King-Lai (, October 20, 1893 – February 3, 1969), courtesy name Dizhi (), was a Chinese mathematician from Yunnan. He was the first person to introduce modern mathematics into China, and served as an influential preside ...

Chen Jiangong Chen Jiangong (; 1893–1971), or Jian-gong Chen, was a Chinese mathematician. He was a pioneer of modern Chinese mathematics.Su Buqing, established the

at a meeting held in the library of NCTU. Hu served as the first president of the society. As the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

defeated the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, Hu Dunfu followed the retreating Kuomintang government to Taiwan in 1949. The new Communist government of the People's Republic of China closed Utopia along with many other private schools in 1952, and its departments were split up and merged into six public universities in Shanghai. Hu tried to re-establish Utopia University in Taiwan, but was ultimately unsuccessful.

Later life in the United States

Hu later moved to the United States, where he taught at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

until his retirement in 1962. He died on December 1, 1978 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, at the age of 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hu, Dunfu 1886 births 1978 deaths Mathematicians from Jiangsu Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni Fudan University alumni Cornell University alumni Academic staff of Tsinghua University Academic staff of Fudan University Academic staff of Shanghai Jiao Tong University University of Washington faculty Educators from Wuxi Chinese emigrants to the United States Chinese Civil War refugees Taiwanese people from Jiangsu Academic staff of Utopia University Scientists from Wuxi