He Binglin

He Binglin (Chinese: 何炳林, 1916–2007) was a Chinese chemist born in Panyu County, Guangdong Province in China. He studied chemistry in the Southwestern Associated University (Chinese: 西南联合大学)[1] (Nankai University) in Kunming, and graduated in 1942 before he went to Indiana University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1952. He returned to China and became a professor in Nankai University [2] in Tianjin, where he set up the Polymer Chemistry Division in 1958. A variety of polymeric ion exchange resins, including strongly and weakly cationic and anionic exchangers, were developed in the research laboratories at Nankai and he also set up a factory administered by the university to produce a series of ion-exchangers for various applications. He is regarded as the founder of China's industry for ion exchange resins.[3] In 1983, he became the founding director of the Institute of Polymer Chemistry at Nankai University. He authored several books on polymer chemistry and polymer materials and co-authored over 580 scientific articles.[4] He was also elected to be a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences of China in 1980.[3] He received more than 30 awards for his research work.

A statue was erected in 2008 in Nankai University to commemorate his life-time achievements and contribution as an educator and as a prominent chemist.[5]