AWARDEE OF EARTH SCIENCES PRIZE

HAO YICHUN

Abstract

Born in 1920, Professor Hao Yichun graduated from the National Southwest Associated University in 1943 and did postgraduate studies at Tsinghua University. She was a visiting scholar at Moscow University from 1957 to 1959.  In the years since 1942 she has taught at Yunnan University, Peking University, the Peking College of Geology and the China University of Geosciences (Beijing). Professor Hao is a member of the Academia Sinica, and has served as the chairwoman of the Palaeontological and Micropalaeontological Societies of China.  She has also been a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a member of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of China, vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Beijing, vice chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Jiusan Society and vice chairwoman of the Women's Federation of China.
Professor Hao Yichun has a broad range of academic activities. With Professor Yang Zunyi, she was a pioneer in bringing the discipline of palaeontology to China, co-authoring the first Chinese palaeontology textbook.  Later she wrote the first Chinese textbook in micropalaeontology. She has completed many research programmes at the state level, making significant contributions to stratigraphy and palaeontology, petroleum exploration and palaeoceanography. Her research is based on extensive field investigations. Professor Hao and the research group she heads have established the standard stratigraphy for northeast and southwest China; she has devoted considerable time to the study of palaeoceanography and to the application of micropalaeontology to the search for marine energy resources. Her research has received numerous awards from state scientific organizations.