As an undergraduate student said, Prof. Zhang is quite different. “When I went to his workshop for the first time, he looked up from his notebook and greeted me, though he did not know who I was at all.” Prof. Zhang, Vice Dean of the Peking University College of Engineering, has been famous for his kindness and continuous devotion to his students. “After a brief talk with him,” one Chinese journalist wrote, “I found him a scientist with love and humanity.”
Never “too hard”
The original major of Prof. Zhang Dongxiao was rock mass mechanics. But he obtained a PhD in underground water in Arizona University. “Rock is too hard,” Prof. Zhang often makes joke about his experience.
Nothing seems “too hard” to him actually. In the students’ eyes, Prof. Zhang’s life is a legend. “Three master degrees, one PhD and one post-doctoral,” a student once showed off to me proudly, “each took Prof. Zhang just one year. You know what it means.” However, it seems that Prof. Zhang is never satisfied with what he has achieved. In 1993, Prof. Zhang was invited to work in Los Alamos National Laboratory of the United States. Again, his curiosity and insight drove him to apply his theories in underground water to oil and gas exploration, including shell gas. Because of his own academic experience, Prof. Zhang has always been reminding his students how far they are from the impossible.
After 8 years in Los Alamos, Prof. Zhang held teaching positions at Oklahoma University and later at South California University. In his opinion, one needs to have a sense of leadership in the scientific field.
Time with students
Prof. Zhang never stops his steps. In 2005, he made a significant decision again.
In February 2005, Peking University claimed to rebuild the College of Engineering (COE), but to accomplish this task is far less easy than that. Though PKU is widely regarded as China’s Harvard, the subject of engineering has been canceled for over 50 years since the People’s Republic of China was founded and PKU’s engineering department was combined with several other Chinese universities. Therefore, freshmen in the newly established College of Engineering are often embarrassed by such questions as “Why do you attend PKU for an engineering degree?”
However, thanks to Prof. Zhang Dongxiao and other respected experts, COE is now No. 25 on the ranking list of world’s universities in the field of engineering, becoming one of the most promising engineering institutions in China. “COE is small,” said Prof. Zhang, “but in the front.”
Future engineering science and new technology is the focus point of Peking University’s engineers. The 110 faculty and teaching and research staff at the College are renowned both at home and abroad in their respective fields. Most of the faculty have overseas experience, working or studying in leading universities prior to or during their work at the College of Engineering. They are conducting cutting-edge research in fields ranging from physical sciences and medicine to public health and industrial management.
After undertaking the administrative position of vice dean, Prof. Zhang has less time for research. But he thinks it pays off because he now has more time with students. “The students in PKU are excellent,” he said proudly. “The undergraduates have many good ideas. I would talk with every undergraduate student.” Every Sunday, he spends three hours communicating with the students in his workshop, when students get together to talk about what they have been doing in the past weeks or months. “Prof. Zhang is always the first to come.” said a student, “Once he rushed to the meeting room merely an hour after he got off the plane.”
Prof. Zhang is famous for his kindness to students. He said, “As a teacher, you should be kind. In my opinion, you can talk to a student kindly even you are criticizing him. It is more acceptable.” In 2013, Prof. Zhang was nominated, and then elected by students to be one of the ten best supervisors in Peking University. “We adore him,” said an undergraduate student, “not only because of his achievements, but also his personality. The latter is more important.”
Family and beyond
Despite his busy schedule, family means a lot to Prof. Zhang. He is very grateful to his parents and wife. He always mentions a story to his students. When he was an undergraduate, his paper was published on the university journal. To his surprise, however, his father wrote to him without congratulations. Instead, his father told him, “This is just the beginning. Do more useful things.” Actually, that was the last letter his father sent to him. “I often dream that my father is just going for business and will finally come back.” said Prof. Zhang.
There is a saying that behind every successful man stands a good wife. This is also the case with Prof. Zhang. Talking about his wife, he said, “Though she often complains that I am never free from work, she has been supporting me all the time.”
In his opinion, the best way to be grateful to his family is to live a healthy life. When he is not at work, Prof. Zhang likes to play badminton with his friends. He even leads a competition every year among his students. “Health is important,” he said, “I need it for my family and career.”
Written by Cui Jingyuan
