Zhu Guangya was born on December 25, 1924, in Yichang, Hubei province. He received his early education in Hubei, and later moved to Sichuan province with his family, due to the outbreak of the Second World War. Young Guangya developed his interests in physics during high school in
Sichuan, and he got accepted to the Physics Department at the National Central University (nowadays the
Nanjing University) in 1941. One year later, he transferred to National Southwestern Associated University where he continued his study in physical science, and graduated in 1945. After graduation, Zhu stayed at the university and became a lecturer. In 1946, Zhu became a graduate student at the University of Michigan, where he later obtained his doctoral degree in physics in 1949. As director of the
Commission for Science, Technology, and Industry (COSTIND), Zhu led efforts to study and respond to the US'
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). In 1994 when
Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) was founded, he served as the first president. In 1999, he received an achievement medal in recognition of his contribution to China's
Two Bombs, One Satellite projects. In the influential
People's Liberation Army journal
China Military Science, Zhu wrote that nuclear weapons are too destructive to be used and that first-use nuclear policies are not credible, stating, "The extreme increase in lethality ... has given rise to many political problems and limited their use." == References ==