Tsung-Dao Lee (李政道), a Chinese American physicist who in 1957 became the second-youngest scientist to win the Nobel Prize, died on Sunday at his home in San Francisco at age 97.
The news was relayed in a joint statement by the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the China Center for Advanced Science and Technology. Born in Shanghai, Lee was a naturalized U.S. citizen and was a professor at Columbia University for six decades, retiring in 2011.
Columbia University said in its tribute: “A world-renowned scientist, educator, and long-time member of the Department of Physics, Professor Lee was among the leading physicists of his generation: a towering figure who expanded our understanding of the laws of physics and, in particular, the interactions among the subatomic particles out of which our universe is constructed. He also helped usher in a new era of international collaboration in scientific research and education between the United States and China.”
In a 2007 interview, NobelPrize.org asked Lee if there were more discoveries to come in understanding fundamental laws of physics.
“I would hope it’s still true,” he said, noting that nature never stops presenting a “further puzzle” to solve.
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