Ding Shisun

Ding Shisun (; September 5, 1927 – October 12, 2019) was a Chinese mathematician, academic administrator, and politician. He served as president of Peking University during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, after which he was forced to resign. He later served as chairman of the China Democratic League from 1996 to 2005 and as a vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Biography Early life Ding was born on September 5, 1927, in Shanghai, Republic of China, to Ding Jiacheng and Liu Huixian , with his ancestral home in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu. He attended Utopia University in Shanghai from 1944 to 1947. A participant in anti-government student activities, he was arrested by the Kuomintang government and expelled by the university. As a result, he moved north to Beijing and entered Tsinghua University in 1948.

Tsinghua University and Peking University Ding graduated from the Department of Mathematics of Tsinghua University in 1950, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and was hired by the university as an assistant professor. In 1952, he transferred to Peking University, where he later rose to lecturer and professor. When the Cultural Revolution broke out in 1966, he was imprisoned and later sent to perform manual labour at a May Seventh Cadre School.

According to a report in Yanhuang Chunqiu, when Mao Xinyu, the grandson of Mao Zedong, graduated from high school in 1988, his mother Shao Hua attempted to enroll him at Peking University. Ding rejected her request on the basis that he could not guarantee Mao's safety among the liberal-minded students, and Mao ended up enrolling at Renmin University of China instead.

During his tenure, Ding promoted the spirit of "democracy and science", though some of his reforms were prevented by the government. In 1988, he submitted his resignation to Education Minister Li Tieying, but Li declined the request. When the Tiananmen Square protests erupted in April 1989, students of Peking University played a leading role, and Ding did not prevent them from joining the protests. After the June 4, 1989 crackdown on protesters, Ding was forced to resign that August. He was replaced by Wu Shuqing, a vice president of Renmin University.

In an interview with China Central Television, Ding described his tenure as president a failure, and said that he failed to transform Peking University into the ideal university he had envisioned.

Death Ding died on October 12, 2019, in Beijing, aged 92. On October 17, he was buried in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.

Personal life In 1956, Ding married , a faculty member in the chemistry department of Peking University. Their wedding was held on the university campus and attended by many students and teachers. They have two sons and one grandson.