Shi Yigong (; born May 1967) is a Chinese

biophysicist Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. B ...

who serves as founding and the current president of Westlake University since April 2018. He previously served as vice president of

Tsinghua University 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, Projec ...

from 2015 to 2018 and dean of Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences from 2009 to 2016.

Education

Shi Yigong received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

with majors in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditar ...

and mathematics from Tsinghua University in 1989 and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

molecular biophysics Molecular biophysics is a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary area of research that combines concepts in physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and biology. It seeks to understand biomolecular systems and explain biological function in te ...

from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

in 1995. During his graduate studies, he determined the

crystal structure In crystallography, crystal structure is a description of the ordered arrangement of atoms, ions or molecules in a crystalline material. Ordered structures occur from the intrinsic nature of the constituent particles to form symmetric patterns t ...

of several critical apoptotic proteins, including

apaf-1 Apoptotic protease activating factor 1, also known as APAF1, is a human homolog of ''C. elegans'' CED-4 gene. Function The protein was identified in the lab of Xiaodong Wang as an activator of caspase-3 in the presense of cytochromeC and dATP ...

, DIAP1, and the BIR3 domain of

XIAP X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), also known as inhibitor of apoptosis protein 3 (IAP3) and baculoviral IAP repeat-containing protein 4 (BIRC4), is a protein that stops apoptotic cell death. In humans, this protein (XIAP) is produc ...

Career

Shi Yigong was the Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor in the department of

Molecular Biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and phys ...

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

. In June 2008, he was selected as a

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, f ...

investigator. However, he rejected the award upon resigning his position at Princeton University in order to pursue his career at

, becoming the dean of the School of Life Sciences there. In 2003, he was appointed a Chair Professor of Tsinghua's Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology. In late 2007, He was appointed Vice Director of Tsinghua's Institute of Biomedicine and Vice Dean of Tsinghua's Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology before returning to China. He was appointed Dean of Tsinghua's School of Life Sciences (replacing the Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology) in 2009. In 2018, he became the founding and the first president of Westlake University, a newly established private university in

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, wh ...

. Shi renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2011 in order to reclaim his Chinese citizenship.

Awards

* 2020, the Tan Kah Kee Science Award * 2017, the

Future Science Prize The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...

in Life Sciences. * 2016, the Ho Leung Ho Lee Award for Achievement in Science and Technology.https://ygshi.org/static/CV_YigongShi.pdf * 2015, Nature Award for Mentoring in science. * 2014, the

Gregori Aminoff Prize The Gregori Aminoff Prize is an international prize awarded since 1979 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in the field of crystallography, rewarding "a documented, individual contribution in the field of crystallography, including areas conc ...

, from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences * 2013, foreign associate of the US

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

* 2013, foreign associate of the

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 1,800 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

* 2013, Academician

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Repub ...

, 中国科学院院士 * 2011, Ray Wu Award from the Chinese Biological Investigators Society * 2010 Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize * Irving Sigal Young Investigator Award, from the

Protein Society The Protein Society is an international, not-for-profit, Learned society, scholarly society with the mission to provide forums for the advancement of research into protein structure, function, design and applications. History It was founded in 1 ...

* Searle Scholar Award * Rita Allen Scholar Award * 2000, Wilson S. Stone Memorial Award * 1995, Paul Ehrlich Research Award in Basic Science

References

External links

Dr. Shi Yigong Appointed Vice Director of Tsinghua’s Institute of Biomedicine
Tsinghua University News

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shi, Yigong 1967 births Living people People from Zhengzhou Biologists from Henan Chinese biophysicists Chinese emigrants to the United States Educators from Henan Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Howard Hughes Medical Investigators Johns Hopkins University alumni Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Former United States citizens Physicists from Henan Princeton University faculty Tsinghua University alumni Academic staff of Tsinghua University Members of the 14th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference