Shen will continue decades of research on partial differential equations and harmonic analysis at Westlake University in Hangzhou.<\/b>
\nPioneering Chinese-American mathematician Zhongwei Shen has left the United States to take up a chair professorship at Westlake University in Hangzhou.
He joined Westlake\u2019s School of Science in July to continue decades of research on partial differential equations and harmonic analysis \u2013 mathematical fields that form the backbone of modelling the natural world, according to the university website.
Shen, who was admitted to Peking University as a maths major at just 14, has spent 40 years in the US, including nearly three decades at the University of Kentucky, where he became a distinguished professor and served as chair of the mathematics department.
A founding member of the inaugural class of American Mathematical Society Fellows, Shen has also maintained close ties with China, including being named a Changjiang Scholar at Lanzhou University in 2015.
In an official announcement, Shen said he had long considered returning to China and closely followed developments back home. \u201cI never considered going to another country,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I were to leave, it\u2019d have to be China, because that\u2019s home.\u201d
He said he was drawn to Westlake by its high-level, research-focused approach and the international character of its maths department. \u201cI hope to help Westlake University become a top research university,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n