Background
Jiaxian was born on June 25, 1924 in Huaining, Anhui, China.
Jiaxian was born on June 25, 1924 in Huaining, Anhui, China.
Jiaxian studied in the Physics Department of the Southwest Associated University from 1941 to 1945. In 1948, he was admitted to the Graduate School of Purdue University in the United States and received a Doctor of Philosphy in physics two years later.
Jiaxian began his career as a teacher in Wenzheng Middle School in 1945. A year later, he took the same position at Peiwen Middle School of Kunming and the Physics Department of Peking University in 1947. Then in 1948, Deng became a research fellow of Institute of Modern Physics in Chinese Academy of Sciences under the leadership of Qian Sanqiang. He started his creative nuclear theoretical research in cooperation with Yu Min.
In October 1958, together with many other scientists, he was assigned to the research work of atomic bombs. Deng had to lead the team of 28 members at an average age of 23 to march toward the mysterious atomic kingdom.
He was a director of the Theoretical Department of the Nuclear Weapon Research Institute and principal of China's atomic bomb design and he also set up an Atom Theory Illiteracy Elimination Class, giving lessons himself and organizing people to translate and study relevant foreign language materials. Then Deng led his team to join the research group led by Yu Min in 1965 and immediately started design of the hydrogen bomb. Within no more than one year, the "Deng-Yu Project" was submitted, which greatly accelerated China's hydrogen bomb development leading to success. He continued to work in spite of illness until 1985.
Quotes from others about the person
Chen-Ning Yang: "Deng Jiaxian was the founder and promoter of China's nuclear weapon cause. He was worthy of the reputation of being the Founding Father of China's A-Bomb and H-Bomb, as coined by General Zhang Aiping. ... Deng Jiaxian was the most dedicated son of China who was nurtured in thousands of years' traditional Chinese culture..."
