Frank Shu

Frank H. Shu (Chinese: 徐遐生; pinyin: Xú Xiáshēng; born June 2, 1943), is an American astrophysicist, astronomer and author. He is currently professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley and University of California, San Diego and the university president of the National Tsing Hua University.

Biography

Shu's hometown is Yongjia County, in Wenzhou of Zhejiang. Shu's father, Shien-Siu Shu (S. S. Shu, 徐賢修), was a mathematician and former President (1970–1975) of the National Tsing Hua University. Shu completed his BS in physics in 1963 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While still an undergraduate, he developed (with Chia-Chiao Lin) a theory governing spiral arms in galaxies, known as the spiral density wave theory. He later received his PhD in astronomy in 1968 at Harvard University.

Academic career

Shu served as chair of the astronomy department of UC Berkeley from 1984 until 1988, and has held faculty appointments at the SUNY Stony Brook and UC Berkeley. He was president of the National Tsing Hua University from February 2002 until February 2006. He joined the faculty at UC San Diego as a distinguished professor of physics in 2006 and also holds the title of University Professor, a UC system-wide honor reserved for scholars of international distinction who are recognized as teachers of exceptional ability. He also is a university professor emeritus at UC Berkeley.