Chih Ree Sun (, May 6, 1923 – January 5, 2007) was a

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

most noted for breaking new ground in modern physics as a professor at the State University of New York in Albany. He spent time writing

Chinese poetry Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, and a part of the Chinese literature. While this last term comprises Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese, and other historical and vernac ...

after he retired.

Biography

Early years

Born in the

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

province, Sun started college in

Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...

, but later went to India during World War II. He then taught and conducted research for 40 years in

high-energy physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the scale of protons and neutrons, while the stu ...

, retiring from the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

at Albany in 1995 after serving on the faculty for 27 years. Sun moved to Florida the following year.

Arts in retirement

After he retired, he became an author of Chinese poetry. His love for

ballroom dancing Ballroom dance is a set of European partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and te ...

took him across Broward and Palm Beach counties. A devoted member of the Coral Springs Chinese Cultural Association, Chih-Ree Sun also taught

tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...

classes there with his wife, Felicia. He died, aged 83, after a two-year struggle with kidney and

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. He was a great grandfather. He also published a collection of more than 200 original poems shortly before he died. In one poem, he told of how his older sister gave him the last space inside a bomb shelter and waited outside while the Japanese attacked during the

second Sino-Japanese war The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

. Both survived. Determined to help children attend Chinese school at the Chinese Cultural Association, Sun requested a scholarship fund be established in his name there. Proceeds from the book's sale will go to the scholarship fund, she said.

External links

Information * *
孫至銳20日出殯將捐奠儀

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Chih Ree 1923 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American educators Chinese emigrants to the United States Deaths from kidney cancer in the United States Deaths from lung cancer in Florida Scientists from Albany, New York People from Coral Springs, Florida State University of New York faculty Physicists from Anhui Chinese Civil War refugees Chinese poets