He Yizhen

He Yizhen (1910–2008) was a Chinese physicist.

She contributed to applying spectroscopy to the steel industry in China and to the research in amorphous state physics.

Her research specialty in amorphous physics was metallic glass.

She filled up the blank of spectroscopy research in China, and became the first person to measure the whole internal Friction peak of metallic glass.

He Yizhen was one of the founders of the Institute of Solid State Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hefei.

The research emphases of the institute are nuclear engineering, special metallic materials, and internal Friction of solid.

He Yizhen was born to a scholarly family as the eldest child in 1910, shortly before the Qing dynasty, the last dynasty of China, was overthrown.

Her father, He Cheng, participated in the Xinhai Revolution which overthrew the Qing Dynasty and led to the founding of the Republic of China, in 1912.

He was born during a time when foot binding was still common, however her grandmother, Wang Xiechangda, was an open-minded educator and social activist for women’s rights, who became a prominent influence in He Yizhen's life.

Wang believed that women should go to school and argued against bound feet, and established Zhehua School, where Yizhen, along with her seven brothers and sisters, graduated from.

She had seven siblings: He Zeming, He Zehui, He Zerong, He Zeying, He Zeyuan, He Zecheng, and He Zeqing.

All eight of the brothers and sisters became scientists.

Yizhen, Zehui, and Zeying are known as the "Three He sisters" in some Chinese scientific circles.

He Yizhen graduated at Zhenhua Girls School in 1926 and subsequently attended Ginling College, where she studied Mathematics and Physics.

Following her graduation from Ginling College in 1930, she taught at a missionary school for one year.

Her father provided He with a sum of money for either dowry or abroad tuition, with the implicit understanding that he was encouraging her to continue her education.

He's two aunts who resided in the United States helped her obtain scholarships from Mount Holyoke College (MHC) and Wellesley College in 1931, where she chose to continue her postgraduate education.

She obtained a Master’s degree in Chemistry and physics from MHC in 1933.

Though He had intended to return to China after her graduation, her mentor recommended her to pursue a higher degree.

She received a doctorate in physics from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor in 1937 and was awarded Barbour scholarship, which was especially built for Asian women.

In her Ph.D. research, He focused on spectroscopy of transition metals.

At the time she was pursuing her postgraduate studies, Chinese women attending college were rare, particularly women studying science.

In China, He's cousin Wang Mingzhen had initially obtained funds from Tsinghua University to study abroad, but ultimately had been refused because the dean of the university refused to provide funding for a woman to study.

He, Wang, and He's sister Zehui would later obtain doctoral degrees in physics from the United States and Germany, despite attempts to dissuade them from continuing to studying physics.

He returned to China in 1937, at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Her family moved from Suzhou to Beijing.

Because of her father’s close friendship with the principal of Yenching University, He obtained a position there as a lecturer.

In 1939, she left Beijing and took a position as lecturer in Donghao University in Shanghai.

After her marriage to Ge Tingsui in 1941, He returned to the United States with her husband.

Through her previous academic connections, she was recommended for a position at a college and eventually became a research assistant to Dr. Ralph A. Beebe at Amherst College.

Her research topic was the measurement of thermal adoption in chemistry, rather than spectroscopy.

Because she was pregnant, she only stayed in the position for several months and focused on raising her children, who were born in 1942 and 1947.

She also worked for briefly at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Metal Research Institute of the University of Chicago.

He returned to China in 1949, after founding of the People's Republic of China, and became a professor at Yenching University.

From 1952, He began working at the Institute of Metal Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Her research focused on improving the production rate of China's nascent steel industry through the application of spectroscopy to alloy steel and slag analysis in steel industry and solved issues in steel production.

She published two representative papers: “Effect of Microstructure of Steel on Spectral Analysis” and “Cup Electrode Solution Arc Method for Spectral Analysis of Open Hearth Slag”.

On behalf of China, she attended the 6th International Conference of Raman Spectroscopy in 1956, in Holland.

From 1966 to 1976, He's research was interrupted by effects of China's Cultural Revolution.

She was forced to endure humiliating punishments as a result of her experience studying abroad and her wealthy background.