Published : 17/07/2025

On July 17, 2012, Ma Dayou (馬大猷), the renowned Chinese physicist and educator, internationally acclaimed acoustics expert, and important pioneer and founder of modern acoustics in China, passed away in Beijing due to illness, at the age of 97.

Originally from Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, Ma Dayou was born in Beijing in 1915.

In 1936, Ma Dayou graduated from the Physics Department of Peking University, and went to study abroad in the United States two years later, where he earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Harvard University in 1940.

In the same year, Ma Dayou returned to his homeland and taught successively at the National Southwestern Associated University and Peking University.

In 1948, he became the Dean of the College of Engineering at Peking University; in 1952, he became the Dean of Academic Affairs at Harbin Institute of Technology.

In 1955, Ma Dayou was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

In the same year, he was transferred to work at the CAS, where he served as a researcher and deputy director of the Institute of Physics, Institute of Electronics, and Institute of Acoustics, and as the Executive Deputy Director of the Department of Mathematics and Physics, and the Executive Vice President of the Graduate School.

Ma also held concurrent positions such as Honorary President of the Chinese Acoustical Society, Vice President of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, and Vice President of the Chinese Institute of Electronics.

Throughout his life, Ma Dayou was engaged in acoustics research, and he proposed several important theories in various areas including physical acoustics, architectural acoustics, speech acoustics, atmospheric acoustics, infrasonics, electroacoustics, and nonlinear acoustics.

The normal mode theory proposed by Ma Dayou is a milestone in the development of contemporary architectural acoustics.

The theory of the acoustics microperforated panel and small-hole silencer created by him has been widely applied both domestically and internationally, making significant contributions to noise control and environmental science.

Ma Dayou also led the establishment of China's first acoustics laboratory and oversaw the completion of important research projects like the acoustics design of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Throughout his life, he published over 100 scientific papers and popular science books, and authored more than 10 monographs including Selected Scientific Papers of Ma Dayou, Fundamentals of Modern Acoustics, Acoustics Handbook, and Phonetics and Linguistic Information.

Ma Dayou received numerous prestigious awards both domestically and internationally, including the National Science Conference Award in 1978, the Major Achievements Award from the CAS in 1980, the National Natural Science Award in 1981, the Fraunhofer Society Gold Medal and the Building Physics Research Institute ALFA Award in Germany in 1997, and the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Science and Technology Progress in 1998.