Chien-Shiung Wu

Chien-Shiung Wu
吳健雄
Chien-Shiung Wu performing experiments
Born	(1912-05-31)May 31, 1912 Liuhe, Taicang, Jiangsu, China
Died	February 16, 1997(1997-02-16) (aged 84) New York City, United States
Nationality	Chinese American
Alma mater	National Central University University of California, Berkeley
Known for	Manhattan Project Nuclear fission Wu experiment Parity violation Beta decay Quantum entanglement
Spouse	Luke Chia-Liu Yuan ​ (m. 1942)​
Children	Vincent Yuan (袁緯承)
Awards	Comstock Prize in Physics (1964) Bonner Prize (1975) National Medal of Science (1975) Wolf Prize in Physics (1978)
Scientific career
Fields	Physics
Institutions	Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica University of California, Berkeley Smith College Princeton University Columbia University Zhejiang University
Thesis	I. The Continuous X-Rays Excited by the Beta-Particles of 32 P. II. Radioactive Xenons (1940)
Doctoral advisor	Ernest Lawrence

Chien-Shiung Wu (Chinese: 吳健雄; pinyin: Wú Jiànxióng; Wade–Giles: Wu² Chien⁴-hsiung²; May 31, 1912 – February 16, 1997) was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics. Wu worked on the Manhattan Project, where she helped develop the process for separating uranium into uranium-235 and uranium-238 isotopes by gaseous diffusion. She is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which proved that parity is not conserved. This discovery resulted in her colleagues Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang winning the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics, while Wu herself was awarded the inaugural Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. Her expertise in experimental physics evoked comparisons to Marie Curie. Her nicknames include the "First Lady of Physics", the "Chinese Madame Curie" and the "Queen of Nuclear Research".^[1][2][3]