Cheng-Shu Wang Chang

Wang Chengshu, also known as Cheng-Shu Wang Chang, was a Chinese physicist known for her work on the kinetic theory of gas molecules and for separation of uranium isotopes. She was elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980.

Early life and education Chengshu was born on June 26, 1912. She graduated from Yenching University in 1934 where she received the highest grades. While teaching as an assistant lecturer from 1934 until 1937, From 1938 until 1939, Chengshu taught at Xiangya Medical College. While at Michigan she was a Barbour Scholar, a program designed to support students from Asia and the Middle East.

Career Chengshu would remain in Michigan for the ten years following her Ph.D. She returned to China in 1956 where she worked at the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences while concurrently serving as a professor at Peking University. She was the first to calculate the eigenvalue for solving the Boltzmann equation, and developed the generalized Boltzmann equation for polyatomic gases, which resulted in it being called the Wang-Chang-Uhlenbeck ("WCU") equation.

Upon returning to China in 1958 she began working on the theory of uranium isotope separation, and ultimately laid the foundation for the research of controlled nuclear fusion reactions

Death Chengshu died on June 18, 1994.