Xia Peisu

Xia Peisu or Pei-su Hsia (; 28 July 1923 – 27 August 2014) was a Chinese computer scientist and educator known for her pioneering research in computer science and technology. The leading developer of Model 107, the nation's first domestically designed general-purpose electronic computer, she has been called the "Mother of Computer Science in China".

Early life and education Xia was born on 28 July 1923 in Chongqing, Sichuan, to a literary family. where she earned her doctorate with a thesis entitled "On Parametric Oscillations in Electronic Circuits. (II) A Graphical Analysis for Non-Linear Systems" in 1950.

Career Two years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xia and her husband Yang Liming returned to China in 1951. She took up an appointment as an associate researcher in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Tsinghua University. She is also credited with designing a high-speed array processor and a range of multiple parallel computers.

In 1991, Xia Peisu and her husband Yang Liming were both elected as academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In recognition of her contributions to China's computer industry, the China Computer Federation honoured Xia with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, along with .

Personal life In 1945, Xia met Yang Liming, an alumnus of National Central University. They married in 1950, when they were both studying at the University of Edinburgh. Yang later became a prominent theoretical physicist. The couple had two sons, Yang Yuenian and Yang Yuemin. The children followed the footsteps of their parents: Yuenian became a computer scientist, and Yuemin a physicist.

Xia died on 27 August 2014, aged 91.

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