Yang, Chen Ning (September 22, 1922 - ; China)

Chen Ning Yang is a Chinese-born American theoretical physicist who was a corecipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1957 along with Tsung-Dao Lee for their work in the law of parity conservation.

Born in Hofei, Anhwei, China, Yang graduated from the Southwest Associated University then proceeded to obtain a B.Sc. which he did in 1942 and then his master's in 1944. In 1946, Yang was able to attend the University of Chicago and receive his Ph.D. in nuclear physics due to a fellowship. After completing his Ph.D under Edward Teller, Yang became an assistant to Enrico Fermi who wielded great influence in Yang's scientific development. It was while in Chicago that Yang began to work with Lee on the law of parity conservation.

By 1953, it had come to the attention of both men that parity conservation had some flaws when a new meson (the K-meson) possessed decay modes of differing parity. As a result, Yang and Lee began to investigate further. Through research it was brought to light that no experimental evidence existed against parity nonconversation in work interactions. Experiments conducted by Yang and Lee proved the existence of parity violations as well as the fact that the symmetry that existed between the particle and the antiparticle otherwise known as the charge conjugation symmetry could in fact be broken by weak decays.

In addition to his work on parity conservation and weak interactions, Yang's other interests included statistical mechanics which he worked on with a number of researchers including Lee and also research in the nature of elementary particle reactions at high energies. In 1954, Yang also worked on the gauge theory with Robert L. Mills.

In 1949, Yang moved to Princeton New Jersey to go to the Institute for Advanced Study where in 1955 he was appointed to the position of professor. In 1964, Yang became a citizen of the United States and in 1965, he took up residence at the Institute of Science, State University of New York. During the 1970's, Yang maintained a position as member of the board of a number of institutions including Rockefellar University, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Ben-Gurion University in Israel.

During his career, Yang was bestowed with many honours for his contributions in the field of physics. Yang's awards included the Einstein Award (1957), the Rumford Prize (1980), Liberty Award (1986) and also the National Medal of Science (1986) (Britannica, 5:147, 12:816, 1994; and Barba, p. 67, 1995).