In the small courtyard of Xu Ru-ren's home, two plum trees are covered with new leaves. Although the plums are not yet ripe, the elderly man has already received "new fruits."
Recently, the Award Committee of the Chinese Chemical Society decided to award Xu Ru-ren (Jilin University) the Fourth Lifetime Achievement Award of the Chinese Chemical Society.
At over ninety years old, Xu Ru-ren is currently an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an inorganic chemist, and an internationally renowned expert in molecular sieves and porous materials. He is the founder and pioneer of the discipline of "inorganic synthetic chemistry" in China and a trailblazer in hydrothermal synthesis chemistry.
After graduating from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1952, Xu Ru-ren went to Jilin to help establish the Department of Chemistry at Northeast People's University (predecessor of Jilin University). At that time, the conditions were very harsh, and they cleared out a basement to use as a laboratory, constructing experimental platforms with wooden planks and borrowing equipment and chemicals for classes.
In the 1970s, Xu Ru-ren began to focus on researching molecular sieves, which played a significant role in areas such as petroleum processing and fine chemical engineering. His research achieved forward-looking results internationally, leading and promoting the advancement of research in this field in China, supporting the rise of China's refining catalysis industry, and playing a prominent role in establishing the discipline of "inorganic synthetic chemistry" in China.
In 1981, Xu Ru-ren established the first course on "inorganic synthetic chemistry" at Jilin University, introducing a new concept into the classroom. The course was the first of its kind in the field of chemistry in China, marking the beginning of teaching, research, and talent cultivation in "inorganic synthetic chemistry" in China.
At that time, there were very few laboratories in related fields in China. In the 1980s, Xu Ru-ren and others began to build the first domestic high-temperature and high-pressure hydrothermal synthesis and testing laboratory, which was opened to domestic and international researchers in 1991, effectively promoting the comprehensive and rapid development of hydrothermal synthesis chemistry in China.
Over decades of teaching, Xu Ru-ren and his wife, Professor Pang Wenqin, cultivated an outstanding research team in the field of inorganic chemistry. Among them, Feng Shouhua, Zhao Dongyuan, Yu Jihong, and others were elected as academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Every July and August when the plums ripen, Xu Ru-ren would gather his disciples at home for a "Plum Banquet," sharing the joy of the harvest.
As the plum tree bears new fruits every year, Xu Ru-ren, in his old age, has not stopped. In September 2017, on the 71st anniversary of Jilin University, Xu Ru-ren and Professor Pang Wenqin donated 5 million yuan of their life savings to the university to establish the "Pang Wenqin, Xu Ru-ren Education Fund" to support the development of the discipline of "inorganic synthetic chemistry." That same year, he proposed the idea of building "solid-state chemistry" and introduced for the first time internationally the academic system of "modern inorganic synthetic chemistry" and the concept of "solid-state chemistry."
This year, a book on "solid-state chemistry" written by Xu Ru-ren and others is set to be published. As the elderly man looks through the draft cover, his eyes are filled with hope. Perhaps at this year's "Plum Banquet," he and his disciples will have even more new topics to discuss.
(Original title: Nonagenarian Academician Xu Ru-ren: A Lifetime of Scientific Research, Continuously Cultivating "New Fruits")
