Shu was born in
Yongjia, Wenzhou, Zhejiang on 12 September 1912. Shu studied at Wenzhou High School. In 1935, Shu graduated from the Department of Mathematics of
Tsinghua University in Beijing and obtained a B.S. in
mathematics. He worked as a
teaching assistant at the department after his graduation. In 1944, Shu went to the United States for graduate studies and entered
Brown University. Shu obtained his PhD in
applied mathematics in 1948 under the guidance of
Charles Loewner. In 1949, Shu worked in
Princeton, and in that summer went to the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology to do his
postdoctoral research. Shu was a professor of engineering science at
Purdue University, and the Chair of
Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Shu was also an
adjunct professor of
National Taiwan University (in
Taipei),
National Chiao Tung University, and the
National Tsing Hua University (both in
Hsinchu) in
Taiwan. In 1961, Shu founded the Department of Mathematics at the National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), and held summer mathematical seminar annually. From 1970 to 1975, Shu was the President of the National Tsing Hua University. In 1973, Shu invited
Mao Gao-wen to be the
Dean of NTHU's engineering faculty,
Shen Chun-shan to be the Dean of science faculty, and Fung Yan-Hsiung (馮彥雄) to be the Dean of Nuclear Science and Technology. In Shu's office, National Tsing Hua University developed into a first-class comprehensive university of Taiwan. From 1973 to 1980, Shu was in charge of the
National Science Council (under the
Executive Yuan) of Taiwan. From 1979 to 1988, Shu was the chairman and
director-general of the
Industrial Technology Research Institute. Shu advised to establish the world-famous
Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park (HSIP), thus he is widely known as the "Father of HSIP". ==Contributions and honors==