Prof. Shi Jun (Dec. 13th, 1912 - Sep. 1st, 2005), was a reputable senior academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an expert in chemical engineering, and a master of higher education in chemical engineering in China. He graduated from Tsinghua’s Department of Chemistry. Under the sponsorship of Tsinghua University, he studied in the USA. He returned to China in 1938 and since then settled as professor and chairman of the chemical engineering department of the National Central University, Nanjing University, Nanjing Institute of Technology, and Nanjing Institute of Chemical Technology. Since 1985, more than 200 of his papers were published in scientific journals at home and abroad. What’s more, he helped compile the Chemical Engineering Volume of the Chinese Encyclopedia and the Chemical Engineering Handbook. In his close to 60 years of teaching and research work, he helped educate a large number of personnel of excellent caliber, including 16 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering and among the masters and doctors he has trained, nearly 600 have received senior titles.
Early Life and Education
Prof. Shi Jun was born in Changshu, Jiangsu Province in 1912. In high school, he enjoyed reading books such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, and Investiture of the Gods, and competed with his classmates to memorize the titles of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the names of the 108 companions of Water Margin, which contributed to his good memory. When he later engaged in scientific research, good memory actually became his secret weapon.
After graduating from high school, Prof. Shi Jun was first enrolled at Soochow University and then changed his mind to join the college entrance examination. At this time, he was admitted to the Chemistry Department of Tsinghua University. In 1934, when he graduated from Tsinghua, he was admitted to study abroad at public expense. After a year of internship in China, he went to the United States for further study together with Qian Xuesen, Zhang Junxiang and Xu Zhilun.
Career in China
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Prof. Shi Jun returned to Nanjing in 1946 and continued to devote himself to chemical education. In 1952, when the department adjustment was implemented, Prof. Shi Jun became the dean of the Chemical Engineering Department of Nanjing Institute of Technology, and at the same time was appointed to create the first Silicate Major in China, which trained the first generation of cement graduates in China, making an important contribution to the development of the inorganic non-metallic materials major in China.
In the autumn of 1956, Prof. Shi Jun, together with Prof. Wang Dexi, Prof. Wang Jiading and other professors jointly submitted a letter to the Ministry of Higher Education, suggesting the establishment of a chemical engineering major in the Department of Chemistry. In 1957, the proposal was approved, while the Ministry of Higher Education appointed Prof. Shi Jun to formulate teaching plans and plan the creation of a chemical engineering major. In that year, Tianjin University and East China Institute of Chemical Engineering (now East China University of Science and Technology) started to enroll students.
In 1956, under the auspices of Premier Zhou Enlai, China’s world-class scientists gathered in the capital to formulate the Draft Outline Plan of Long-term Program for Developing National Sciences and Technology from 1956 to 1957, and open up the future of science in new China. Prof. Shi Jun was invited to the capital as a representative of scientists and educators as well. When Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai kindly received them, Prof. Shi Jun’s eyes filled with tears. 44-year-old Prof. Shi Jun made a resolution to dedicate his knowledge and talent to the great motherland without reservation.
Later Life and Influences
A lifetime of teaching to invigorate China, half a lifetime of willingness to serve as a ladder for students. This is a vivid characterization of Prof. SHI’s whole life. As Prof. Shi famously said, “The pupil outdoes the master. When a student is not as good as a teacher, the teacher is not successful”. He taught for more than 60 years, and many of his students have become famous scientists in various disciplines, and 16 of them have been honored as members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Since the 1980s, he has educated more than 70 doctors and masters in the spirit of the famous poetic line: “In life’s December heroes bold, won’t change indomitable style”. Prof. Shi Jun was a well-deserved “grandmaster of chemical education”.
Every year, Prof. Shi’s former students would come to visit him on New Year’s Eve to talk with him about the school and the alumni. Whenever talking about the achievements of an alumnus in his career or family, Prof. Shi was very happy.
It was Prof. Shi Jun’s wise instructions and lofty behaviors that taught his students how to behave, how to learn, how to teach, and how to be loyal to their careers, which had a lifelong impact on them.
On September 1, 2005, Prof. Shi Jun passed away at the age of 93 due to illness. What Prof. Shi Jun brought to us was not only the scientific achievements, but also the “Shi Jun Spirit” that has been passed down to this day and influenced future generations.
