Yi-Sheng Mao

Yi-Sheng Mao. , Mao Yi-Sheng (Thomas Mao), born in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China, received his Bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Tangshan Engineering Institute (1916), his Master's from Cornell (1917) and his Ph.D. from Carnegie Institute of Technology (1919), the first Ph.D. granted by this institution., Dr. Mao's positions in China included professorships at five universities and the presidency of four. He was a major innovator in Chinese engineering education., Dr. Mao, a pioneering bridge engineer, designed the Qiantang River Bridge near Hangzhou (1937). Destroyed by Dr. Mao himself in advance of the Japanese invasion, the bridge was rebuilt after World War II under his supervision. He led the design of the Yangtze River Bridge of Wuhan (1957) and was chief consultant for the structural design of the Great Hall of People in Beijing., Dr. Mao was president of the China Engineers' Association and the Chinese Civil Engineering Society and vice-president of the China Association of Science and Technology. He was vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He headed many delegations of Chinese engineers and scientists worldwide., Dr. Mao wrote a book on Chinese bridges, supervised a series of books on the history of the natural sciences and served on many organizations disseminating scientific knowledge., Dr. Mao was Academician of the Academia Sinica of the Republic of China and of the China Academy of Sciences of the People's Republic of China, and foreign associate of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering., Steven J. Fenves