Shiing-shen Chern (Chen Xingshen), a world-renowned overseas
Chinese mathematician, 93, died of illness at his home at Nankai
University in north China's Tianjin Municipality at around 7:15 PM
Friday, the university announced.
Chern, a US citizen, is best known for his achievements in the
study of differential geometry. He was born in 1911 in Jiaxing,
Zhejiang Province, east China. He graduated from Nankai University
in 1930 and received further education at Tsinghua University and
the University of Hamburg in Germany.
He taught at several Chinese and US universities -- including
Princeton University, the University of Chicago, and the University
of California, Berkeley -- and is the only Chinese to win the Wolf
Prize -- the most distinguished award in the international
mathematics field.
The International Astronomical Union officially named asteroid
No. 1998CS2 after the noted mathematician in November for his
outstanding contributions to human society.
(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2004)