Ching-Wu Paul Chu

Professor Paul C. W. Chu is currently serving as Professor of Physics, T. L. L. Temple Chair of Science, and Founding Director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston. He also served as President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2001-2009). His research focuses on superconductivity, magnetism, and dielectrics. In January 1987, he and his colleagues achieved stable superconductivity at 93K, above the critical temperature of liquid nitrogen (77K). They continue to find new compounds with high transition temperatures. They again obtained stable superconductivity at a new record high temperature of 164K in a compound under pressure. Presently, he is actively engaged in the basic and applied research of high temperature superconductivity. His work has resulted in the publication of more than 630 papers in refereed journals. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing), the Academia Sinica (Taipei), the Third World Academy of Sciences, The Electromagnetic Academy and the Russian Academy of Engineering. In 2007, he was appointed as a Member of the U.S. President's Committee on the National Medal of Science, responsible for the selection of recipients for this top scientific honor in the U.S. Prof. Chu's numerous awards include the National Medal of Science, the International Prize for New Materials, the Comstock Award, the Texas Instruments' Founders' Prize, the John Fritz Medal, and the Freedom Foundation National Award.