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YI-SHENG MAO
1896-1 989
BY STEVEN ]. FENVES
Y-SHENG MAO outstanding engineering educator, designer of
major bridges in China, and influential leader of Chinese engi-
neering and scientific organizations, died on November 12,
l9S9, at the age of ninety-three.
Elected as a foreign associate of the National Academy of
Engineering in 1982, Dr. Mao was recognized for his distin-
guished leadership in the development of China's transporta-
tion system, his significant accomplishments as a bridge design-
er, and his guiding role in engineering education.
Dr. Mao was born in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China. After
graduation from the Tangshan EngineeringInstitute in 1916, he
came to studyin the United States. He received his M.C.E. in civil
engineering from Cornell University in 1917 and Ph.D. in civil
engineering from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carn-
egie Mellon University) in 1919. This was the first Ph.D. granted
by that university. His dissertation on secondary stresses in
trusses was a major contribution to bridge theory at that time.
While in Pittsburgh, he also worked for the McClintick-Marshall
Company as a designer.
Upon his return to China in 1920, Dr. Mao assumed a series
of educational positions, which eventually included professor-
ships at five major institutions and the presidencies of four of
these universities. Among these universities are the two oldest
and most prominent engineering schools of China: the National
191
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192
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
Beiyang University (formerly Beiyang Engineering College) in
Tianjin and the National Beifang Jiaotong University (formerly
Tangshan Engineering Institute) in Tangshan. Dr. Mao was
widely respected as a major innovator in Chinese engineering
education, introducing both new subject matter and new pecia-
gogical approaches.
Simultaneouslywith his educational activities, Dr. Mao held a
series of other positions, including director of bridge engineer-
ing for Zhejiang Province, director of the bridge designing and
engineering division of the Ministry of Communications, and
general manager of the China Bridge Engineering Company. In
these positions he became recognized as a pioneering and
brilliant bridge engineer. He designed and supervised the con-
struction of two of the most famous modern bridges in China.
The Qiantang River Bridge near Hangchow was completed in
1937, after a construction period of two-and-a-half years. The
bridge, with a main span of 1,072 meters, provides highway ant!
railroad connections on separate levels. Its construction re-
quired many innovative solutions, particularly in the substruc-
ture that had to penetrate forty meters of quicksand in the
riverbed. The bridge was destroyed by the retreating Chinese
army during the Japanese invasion and rebuilt after World War
II uncler Dr. Mao's supervision. Dr. Mao served as chairman of
the Technical Consultative Committee on the Yangtze Bridge at
Wuhan, which was completed in 1957 after two years of construc-
tion. This bridge also provides highway and railroad service on
separate levels. In addition to bridge building, Dr. Mao contrite
uted to the structural design of many major buildings in Beijing.
He was chief consultant for the structural design of the Great
Hall of People in Beijing. The building has since then withstood
a major earthquake.
Dr. Mao held a number of major positions in professional
organizations, including the presidencies of the Institute of
Railway Technology, the China Academy of Railway Sciences,
the China Engineers' Association. and the Chinese Civil Engi-
neering Society. He was vice president and then honorary
president of the China Association for Science and Technology.
Under his leadership for thirty years, the China Academy of
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YI-SHENG MAO
193
Railway Sciences cleveloped into a comprehensive research insti-
tute, providing research support for railway transportation and
construction and training for a large number of engineers and
scientists. In the political arena, he was a deputy to the National
People's Congress (NPC), member of the NPC Standing Com-
mittee, and member and vice chairman of the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference. He headed numerous clele-
gations of Chinese engineers and scientists to Czechoslovakia,
the Soviet Union, Italy, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Great
Britain, Sweden, Japan, and the United States. He personally
contributed to the strengthening of technical and scientific
exchanges between China en c! other countries.
Dr. Mao was particularly interested in the history of Chinese
science and technology. He wrote a book on ancient and mod-
ern Chinese bridges, supervised the compilation of a series on
the history of natural sciences, en c! served many organizations
dealing with the dissemination of scientific knowledge in China.
Dr. Mao's numerous awards included a senior membership in
the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engi-
neering, honorary membership in the Canadian Society of Civil
Engineers, and outstanding alumnus awards from Cornell Uni-
versity and Carnegie Mellon University.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
china academy
