Yu Qizhong

Yu Qizhong, a descendant of the distinguished Yu family of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, was the grandson of scholar Yu Mingzhen and the younger brother of Yu Qiwei, Minister of the First Ministry of Machine Building. He served as Director of the Education Research Office at Kunming Normal College and was respected for his knowledge in education, literature, and history. In the summer of 1948, through the introduction of academic circles in Kunming, he married physicist Wang Mingzhen, China’s first female professor at Tsinghua University.

The couple shared deep affection and academic pursuits. In September 1949, they traveled to the United States; Wang Mingzhen conducted research funded by the U.S. Navy Department, while Yu Qizhong visited and observed universities to broaden his horizons. At the end of 1952, they planned to return to China, but U.S. immigration authorities refused, citing Wang’s previous work in a confidential radar laboratory and concerns over national security.

In 1955, they finally returned to Beijing. Wang Mingzhen became a professor at Tsinghua University, while Yu Qizhong took up a position at the Ministry of Agriculture. Throughout his career, Yu Qizhong was admired for his scholarship, integrity, and modest character, earning respect both in academic circles and within his family.