Published : 2025-05-28
On May 28, 2019, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and Tsinghua University Professor Li Hengde (李恒德), who was a Chinese pioneer in nuclear materials and surface modification of metal ion beams, and a trailblazer in biomimetic materials, passed away in Beijing due to illness at the age of 98.
Li Hengde was born in Luoyang, Henan Province on June 30, 1921. He graduated from the National Northwestern Engineering Institute in 1942, then went to the United States for further studies.
He received a master's degree from Carnegie Institute of Technology (CMU) in 1947, and a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) in 1953.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Li actively participated in the work of the Chinese Students' Association in America and was committed to organising overseas students to return to China and participate in the construction of New China.
In December 1954, Li Hengde overcame numerous difficulties to return to China. Since then, he worked at Tsinghua University, dedicating his life to China's material science enterprises.
In 1955, he began to establish the metal materials major in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tsinghua University and served as the director of the teaching and research office.
In 1956, he organised the establishment of the nuclear materials major in the Department of Engineering Physics, where he successively served as associate professor, head of the nuclear materials teaching and research office, professor, deputy director, and director of the department.
From 1979 to 1997, Li Hengde served as the director of the Institute of Materials at Tsinghua University and during this period, he established the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
In 1994, Li was selected as one of the first academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Li Hengde made significant contributions to the development of China's materials science industry.
He founded the first nuclear materials major in China, cultivating a large number of outstanding talents for China's nuclear industry.
In the fields of research on zirconium tubes for nuclear reactors, micro-core production of nuclear fuel, and radiation effects of charged particle beams, Li achieved fruitful results and received numerous national and provincial awards and recognitions.
Li Hengde published 200 academic papers and authored two books on ion beam material modification.
From 1986 to 1994, he served as the director of the Department of Materials and Engineering of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
He was also elected as the president of the Chinese Materials Research Society (C-MRS) and the president of the International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS).
