Ray Wu

Ray Jui Wu (Chinese: 吴瑞; pinyin: Wú Ruì; Wade–Giles: Wu Jui, 14 August 1928 – 10 February 2008) was a Chinese-born American geneticist. A pioneer of plant genetic engineering, Wu was Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Molecular Genetics and Biology at Cornell University.[1]

Ray Jui Wu
吴瑞
Born(1928-08-14)August 14, 1928
Beijing, China
DiedFebruary 10, 2008(2008-02-10) (aged 79)
Ithaca, NY, USA
Other namesWu Rui, Wu Jui
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
Scientific career
ThesisStudies on the Mechanisms of Pyrimidine Biosynthesis (1955)
Doctoral advisorD. Wright Wilson
Doctoral studentsJack W. Szostak
In this Chinese name, the family name is Wu.

Biography

Wu was the son of Hsien and Daisy Yen Wu, both biologists who pioneered biochemical studies in China.[2] Wu was born in Beijing in China, his ancestral hometown was Fuzhou of Fujian Province. Wu was educated in the United States and obtained his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1955.[3]

Wu did important work in DNA sequencing[4] and genetic engineering, and is regarded as one of founding fathers of plant genetic engineering. Wu also was an active educator, and created the CUSBEA (China-US Biochemistry Examination and Application). In 1999, at Cornell, Wu donated US$500,000 to establish the Ray Wu Graduate Fellowship in Molecular Biology and Genetics to support biology graduate students.[5]

Wu spent most of his scientific career at Cornell. Wu was an Academician of Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.[6] Wu's former student Jack W. Szostak was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[7]

Ray Wu Memorial Fund

The Ray Wu Memorial Fund (RWMF) is a nonprofit 501c3 organization. RWMF administers the annual Ray Wu Prize for Excellence in Life Sciences that is established to inspire Asia's most promising young Ph.D. students to become future leaders in life sciences. For more details, visit the website raywumemorialfund.

References
  1. Cornell University Cornell Chronicle Ray Wu dies at 79
  2. 曹 (Cao), 育 (Yu) (7 March 2008). 屈 (Qu), 宝坤 (Baokun) (ed.). "最早在国内从事生物化学研究的女学者——吴严彩韵" [Daisy Yen Wu—The First Woman Scholar in China Engaged in Biochemical Research]. 中国科技史料 (in Chinese). Beijing: Institute of the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Chinese Library Classification Number K826.1. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  3. CUSBEA创始人吴瑞因病去世 享年79岁 (Founder of CUSBEA Ray Wu dies at 79) Archived 2011-10-31 at the Wayback Machine, from ScienceNet.com News
  4. Onaga, Lisa A. "Ray Wu as Fifth Business: Deconstructing Collective Memory in the History of DNA Sequencing." Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 46 (June 2014): 1–14. doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2013.12.006
  5. Molecular biologist Ray Wu's gift will endow a graduate fellowship
  6. Ray Wu, as remembered by a former student
  7. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009
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