Chien-Shiung Wu was a Chinese-American physicist who made significant contributions in the field of nuclear and particle physics. She is known as the “Chinese Marie Curie” and the “Queen of Nuclear Research.” She was born on May 31, 1912, Liuhe, Taicing, Suzhou, China. She however moved to the U.S. in 1939. She played a circulating role in the Manhattan Project, the research and development consortium led by the United States that created the first nuclear weapons. Chien-Shiung Wu helped develop the process for separating uranium metal into U-235 and U-238 isotopes by gaseous diffusion. She always discovered a chemical element called Promethium which is used as a power source as it can absorb and generate energy. She was the first woman to get an honorary doctorate in science from Princeton, first woman to receive the National Academy of Science’s prestigious. She was also the first woman to serve as president of the American Physical Society. Before getting all of these accomplishments, she went to Berkeley to receive a Ph.D. in 1940, she later taught at Smith College and at Princeton University. Many accomplishments made her the woman she is today, she encouraged many young ones to go finish their dreams.

Wu would spend most of her time in her later years visiting China, Taiwan, and different American states. She became renowned for her steadfast promotion of teaching STEM subjects to all students regardless of gender or any other discriminating cause. Wu suffered a stroke on February 16, 1997, in New York City. An ambulance rushed her to St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Hospital Center where she was pronounced dead. Her granddaughter, Jada Wu Hanjie, remarked “I was young when I saw my grandmother, but her modesty, rigorousness and beauty were rooted in my mind. My grandmother had emphasized much enthusiasm for national scientific development and education, which I really admire.”