Chuan-Chih Hsiung (Chinese: 熊全治,

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: Xióng Quánzhì) (1916–2009), also known as Chuan-Chih Hsiung, C C Hsiung, or Xiong Quanzhi, was a Chinese-born American mathematician specializing in

differential geometry Differential geometry is a Mathematics, mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of Calculus, single variable calculus, vector calculus, lin ...

. He was Professor of Mathematics at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of the ''

Journal of Differential Geometry The ''Journal of Differential Geometry'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of mathematics published by International Press on behalf of Lehigh University in 3 volumes of 3 issues each per year. The journal publishes an annual supplement in book ...

'', an influential journal in the domain.

Life

Hsiung was born in Xuefang Village, Xinjian County,

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

on February 15, 1916. He was the third of four children in his family. His early education was taken in

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

, the capital city of Jiangxi. He graduated from the National Chekiang University (

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University (ZJU) is a public university, public research university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and D ...

) in 1936, and Su Buqing (or Su Buchin) was his main academic advisor. Forced by 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 ...

, Hsiung moved with the university to

Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

. Although the war was going on, He kept his study, and focus on Tangrams, which have seven pieces and can change into many different forms. In 1942, in cooperation with others, Hsiung proved that "at most 13 different convex Tangrams can be formed". Hsiung married Wenchin Yu in 1942. They were married for 62 years until she died in 2004. They had one daughter, Nancy. In 1943, V.G. Grove offered Hsiung an assistant position at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

with generous financial support. In 1945, after the Japanese surrender, Hsiung was able to go to the US, and obtained his PhD from

in 1948. After graduation, Hsiung became an instructor at the same university until 1950. Afterward, he was a visiting lecturer at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. Due to

Hassler Whitney Hassler Whitney (March 23, 1907 – May 10, 1989) was an American mathematician. He was one of the founders of singularity theory, and did foundational work in manifolds, embeddings, immersion (mathematics), immersions, characteristic classes and, ...

's invitation from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, Hsiung became a research assistant there. In Autumn 1952, Hsiung went to the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

. At Lehigh University, Hsiung became associate professor in 1955, and then rose to full professorship in 1960. Hsiung founded the ''

'' in March 1967. He was Editor-in-Chief of this journal for 42 years, until his death. He retired from teaching in 1984, becoming Professor Emeritus. Hsiung died on May 6, 2009.

Research

During Hsiung's early years, he focused on

projective geometry In mathematics, projective geometry is the study of geometric properties that are invariant with respect to projective transformations. This means that, compared to elementary Euclidean geometry, projective geometry has a different setting (''p ...

. His interests were largely extended after his research in Harvard, including two-dimensional

Riemannian manifold In differential geometry, a Riemannian manifold is a geometric space on which many geometric notions such as distance, angles, length, volume, and curvature are defined. Euclidean space, the N-sphere, n-sphere, hyperbolic space, and smooth surf ...

s with boundary, conformal transformation problems,

complex manifold In differential geometry and complex geometry, a complex manifold is a manifold with a ''complex structure'', that is an atlas (topology), atlas of chart (topology), charts to the open unit disc in the complex coordinate space \mathbb^n, such th ...

s, curvature and characteristic classes, etc. '' Minkowski–Hsiung integral formula'', or ''Minkowski-Hsiung formula'', is named after him.

Memorials

*''Zhejiang University Wenchin Yu Hsiung Scholarship'', a scholarship fund, was donated by him and named after his wife Wenchin Yu Hsiung (). *''C.C. Hsiung Fund for the Advancement of Mathematics'' of Lehigh University is named after him.

Books by him

* ''A First Course in Differential Geometry'' * ''Almost Complex and Complex Structures'' * ''Selected Papers of Chuan-Chin Hsiung''

Notes

References

* Boston.com
Death Notice of Dr. Chuan-Chih Hsiung
* Complete biography of Chuan-Chih Hsiung (English)
International Press: Journal of Differential Geometry
(English)
Journal of Differential Geometry Home Page
(English)

(English)

(English)
浙江大学熊余文琴助学金
''Zhejiang University Wenchin Yu Hsiung Scholarship'' (Chinese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hsiung 1916 births 2009 deaths People from Nanchang Lehigh University faculty Chinese emigrants to the United States 20th-century American mathematicians Zhejiang University alumni