After graduating from
Tohoku Imperial University in 1923, Chen returned to China and became a lecturer at the Zhejiang Industrial School, which was later merged into National Chekiang University. In 1924, he went to
Wuhan,
Hubei Province, and became a professor at National Wuchang University (now
Wuhan University). In 1926, Chen returned to Tohoku Imperial University to continue his studies in mathematics, completing his Ph.D. in 1929 and becoming the first international student awarded a Ph.D. by a Japanese university. It was during this time that he met his later colleague
Su Buqing, a fellow mathematics Ph.D. candidate. After earning his doctorate, Chen was offered teaching positions at institutions including
Peking University and Wuhan University. However, on the invitation of National Chekiang University president Shao Feizhi, Chen returned to Zhejiang University to serve as dean of the Department of Mathematics, a position he held for the next 20 years. After earning his doctorate in 1931, Su Buqing was invited to join Chen's department and take over his position as department chair, allowing Chen to focus more on research. Their collaboration resulted in the Chen-Su school of mathematics in Hangzhou. The outbreak of the
Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 forced Chen, and much of Zhejiang University, to relocate from
Hangzhou. In February 1940, Chen arrived at
Zunyi, and then subsequently
Meitan,
Guizhou Province, where he helped re-establish the colleges of engineering and sciences. In 1945, after the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chen was invited by biologist Luo Zongluo (
Lo Tsung-lo), who was serving as the 1st president of
National Taiwan University (formerly Taihoku Imperial University), as well as the
Nationalist government in Nanjing, to travel to
Taipei and serve as acting dean of NTU during its reorganization. In the spring of 1946, Chen returned to mainland China (then still controlled by Nationalist government), where he continued teaching in National Chekiang University and became a researcher in the Mathematics Research Institute at the
Academia Sinica. From 1947 to 1948, Chen traveled to the United States to do research at the
Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He was elected an academician of the Academia Sinica in 1948. After the
Chinese Civil War, Chen remained in Zhejiang, now part of the
People's Republic of China. In 1952, Zhejiang University was dissociated and its colleges of sciences and humanities were merged with
Fudan University in
Shanghai. Both Chen and Su Buqing moved to Fudan University, where they continued their cooperation and the Chen-Su school of mathematics. While in Shanghai, Chen translated many mathematical works produced in the
USSR. In recognition of his advancements in the field of mathematics, in 1955 Chen was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in its inaugural year. In 1958, some departments of Zhejiang University were split from the university in order to form
Hangzhou University (which eventually merged back into Zhejiang University in 1998). Chen was appointed to vice president of Hangzhou University and moved back to Hangzhou. ==Notable students==