Louise Zung-nyi Loh (simplified Chinese: 陆慎仪; traditional Chinese: 陸慎儀; pinyin: Lù Shènyí)[1] (March 10, 1900 – April 25, 1981) was a Chinese mathematician, physicist, and educator. She taught mathematics and physics in China from 1925 to 1948, and in the United States after 1948.
Louise Zung-nyi Loh | |
|---|---|
| 陆慎仪 | |
 Louise Zung-nyi Loh, from the 1924 yearbook of Wellesley College | |
| Born | Loh Zung-nyi March 10, 1900 Jiangsu, China |
| Died | April 25, 1981 Ohio, U.S. |
| Other names | Shenyi Lu |
| Occupation(s) | Mathematician, physicist, educator |
Early life and education
editLoh was born in Jiangsu. She attended Ginling College in 1920 and 1921, and Wellesley College from 1921 until her graduation in 1924.[2] At Wellesley she was chair of the Chinese students' club.[3] She earned a master's degree in physics and mathematics at Cornell University in 1925.[4] Her thesis at Cornell was titled "The Effect of Temperature on the Absorption of Fluorescein" (1925).[5][6] She pursued further studies at Oxford from 1935 to 1937.[7] and was a graduate student at the University of Michigan in 1952.[8]
Career
editLoh taught mathematics and physics from 1925 to 1948, at Ginling College, Central University, and Hunan University.[7] She was acting dean of Ginling College in 1946 and 1947. She was a founding member of the Chinese Mathematical Society,[4] and a member of the Mathematical Association of America[9] the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the American Physical Society.[10]
During the Nanjing Massacre in 1927, Loh warned foreign faculty at Ginling College of the approaching danger: "It was she who went to every laboratory and class room and ordered foreign teachers to the faculty house at once," recalled a fellow Wellesley alumna. She also retrieved the contents of the college safe, and organized emergency clothing for the evacuees.[11] She was mentioned in missionary Minnie Vautrin's diary, conferring with Vautrin and Wu Yi-fang about the school's future.[12]
Loh returned to the United States in 1948, and taught mathematics and physics[13] at Wellesley College,[14][15] Smith College, Wilson College,[16] Western College for Women.[17][18] From 1956 to 1964, she worked as a physicist at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.[4]
Personal life
editLoh died in 1981, aged 81 years, in Ohio.[19] She left money to establish the Louise Zung-nyi Loh Scholarship Fund at Ohio State University, to support students interested in East Asian studies.[4][20]
References
edit- ^ Xiong, Rosalinda. "The Seven Sisters and Ginling College " page 20.
- ^ Wellesley College, Legenda (1924 yearbook): 77.
- ^ Hu, T. (June 1922). "Wellesley College". The Chinese Students' Monthly. 17: 704.
- ^ a b c d "Loh Zung-nyi". The View from Ginling. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
- ^ Loh, Zung-Nyi (1925). The Effect of Temperature on the Absorption of Fluorescein. Cornell University.
- ^ Cornell University (1925). The Register, Cornell University. p. 134.
- ^ a b "Many New Faces Around the Campus Greet Students on Opening Day". The Wilson Billboard. September 30, 1949. p. 1. Retrieved November 2, 2021 – via JStor.
- ^ "Chinese Girls Visit Tomb of Their Benefactor". Lansing State Journal. 1952-06-17. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-11-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Cairns, W. D. (1925). "Ninth Annual Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America". The American Mathematical Monthly. 32 (4): 145–160. doi:10.1080/00029890.1925.11986436. ISSN 0002-9890. JSTOR 2300240.
- ^ "Membership List of the American Physical Society". Bulletin of the American Physical Society. 3: 33. October 1928.
- ^ "Zung-Nyi Loh, Wellesley '24, Showed Loyalty in Nanking" Wellesley College News (January 26, 1928): 1.
- ^ Vautrin, Minnie (2008). Terror in Minnie Vautrin's Nanjing: Diaries and Correspondence, 1937-38. University of Illinois Press. pp. 10, 225n3. ISBN 978-0-252-03332-2.
- ^ "Chinese Physicist to Join Wilson Faculty". Public Opinion. 1949-07-12. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
- ^ "News and Notices". The American Mathematical Monthly. 55 (9): 602. 1948. ISSN 0002-9890. JSTOR 2304488.
- ^ "2 Chinese Women to Teach at Wellesley". The Boston Globe. 1948-04-25. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-11-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Schneckenburger, Edith R. (1949). "News and Notices". The American Mathematical Monthly. 56 (8): 573–578. doi:10.1080/00029890.1949.11999444. ISSN 0002-9890. JSTOR 2305549.
- ^ "Western Appoints Chinese Woman to its Faculty". The Journal Herald. 1954-06-03. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-11-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Prof Named at Western". Dayton Daily News. 1954-06-06. p. 69. Retrieved 2021-11-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Louise Zung-nyi Loh (obituary)". The Journal Herald. 1981-05-02. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-11-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Graduate EASC Scholarships". East Asian Studies Center. Retrieved 2021-11-03.