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Hou Debang (; 9 August 1890 – 26 August 1974), also known as Hou Qirong () and Hou Te-Pang, was a Chinese chemist and
chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...
. He was born in
Taijiang District Taijiang District (; Foochow Romanized: Dài-gĕ̤ng) is one of 6 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province, China. The district has the headquarters of the fast food chain CNHLS (originally "Wallac ...
of
Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute ...
(then known as Houguan County). Graduating from
Tsinghua Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Project 98 ...
Preparatory School in 1912, Hou was one of the scholars sent to the United States to study modern technologies. He obtained his master's degree in chemical engineering at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...
(1917), and later obtained his doctoral degree at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
(1921). From 1950, Hou Debang served as a consultant in the chemical industry bureau of the Ministry of Heavy Industry. In 1957 he joined the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
and in 1959 was appointed deputy minister of the Ministry of Chemical Industry. Among Hou's discoveries was his 1933 improvement to the
Solvay process The Solvay process or ammonia-soda process is the major industrial process for the production of sodium carbonate (soda ash, Na2CO3). The ammonia-soda process was developed into its modern form by the Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay during the 1860s ...
for producing
sodium carbonate Sodium carbonate, , (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield moderately alkaline solutions ...
. On August 26, 1974, already ill from
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
, he suffered a
cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...
and died.


References

1890 births 1974 deaths Chemists from Zhejiang Chinese chemical engineers Columbia University alumni Chinese Communist Party politicians from Fujian Engineers from Fujian MIT School of Engineering alumni Members of Academia Sinica Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences People's Republic of China politicians from Fujian Politicians from Fuzhou Scientists from Fujian {{china-scientist-stub