Visiting Chen Yi was on a clear winter day, when he arrived at the old gentleman's home, his kind greeting broke the restraint of our first meeting: "It's very cold outside, please sit down, the tea is brewed." "The atmosphere in the room quickly warmed up.
Being a person, doing things, and doing learning, this is the "seven-character proverb" repeatedly mentioned by Chen Yi in the interview. For teaching, he is rigorous, high standards and strict requirements, always regard "Lide tree people" as the primary task of university education; for administrative work, he invests, inherits the past and the future, seeks truth and innovation, and does his best for the development of the school; for scientific research, he is diligent, not in a hurry to make quick gains, pays attention to pioneering and innovating, and one by one the late night of studying with the lamp has achieved today's fruitful results; as a pioneer, he unites his peers and promotes the future learning, he believes that social development not only needs "talented people from generation to generation", but also needs "a generation is stronger than a generation", for young people, It is necessary to be strict, pick up heavy burdens, take the stage early, and march higher and farther.
【Biography】
Chen Yi, born in 1933 in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, physical chemist and educator, professor, doctoral supervisor, former acting president of Nanjing University, chairman of the Chinese Chemical Society, Chinese representative of the International Catalysis Association, was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005. He has published more than 400 papers, and has been authorized 21 Chinese invention patents and 7 international patents. In 2014, he won the "China Catalysis Achievement Award" by the Catalysis Professional Committee of the Chinese Chemical Society, and in 2020, he won the "Lifetime Achievement Award of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Nanjing University".
The foundation of human beings: to cultivate tranquility and far-reaching
Indifferent to fame and fortune is the first impression that Chen Yi left on us. Talking about the "Nanjing University Chemistry Lifetime Achievement Award" won in 2020, Chen Yi said that the awards and titles are "things outside the body", and the title of "academician" is only the recognition of his peers for his work and performance, and what is really important is to do a little more in a limited time.
Sunlight shines obliquely through the glass into the room, and the elaborately framed calligraphy works on the living room wall sparkle in the light. Noticing our gaze on the wall, Chen Yi also turned his head to look at the painting and told an anecdote about President Kuang's "gift of words" 24 years ago. "This painting, 'Indifferent to nurturing ambition, tranquility to the far,' was given to me by Principal Kuang, and I either hung it in the study or hung it here, and I see it every day."
In August 1996, Chen Yi, then acting president of Nanjing University, received a call from President Kuang Yaming, inviting him to his home to talk about things. After talking about things, he saw a lot of words written by Principal Kuang on the table in the study, and casually said, "Principal Kuang, I don't have your words yet." Hearing this, Kuang Lao immediately asked him to choose one of his own, and Chen Yi picked this one to "be indifferent to cultivate ambition, quiet to the far."
Revisiting the story of the old principal, Chen Yi's eyes flashed with light, "These two sentences are derived from Zhuge Liang's Book of Commandments, the original words are 'indifferent to Mingzhi, quiet to far', Kuang Lao changed 'Mingzhi' to 'Yangzhi'. 'Ming' is for others to see, and 'cultivation' is one's own practice. So far, seeing the words thinking of people, the words are still in the ears, and the old man's exhortations are long! ”
The training of doing things: rigorous and realistic, diligent and innovative
In Chen Yi's mind, a good learning style can condense the "spirit" of a school. Over the past hundred years, the school spirit of NTU has had different written expressions, "chew the roots of vegetables, do great things", "rigorous, realistic, diligent and innovative", "sincere and majestic, encourage learning and practice"... With the passage of time, its connotation has been continuously refined and enriched, and has always inspired NTU to strictly discipline itself and continue to move forward. And he himself has practiced the excellent school spirit of Nanjing University with practical actions.
Since the early 1980s, Chen Yi and his collaborators have spent about 15 years to propose and enrich a model that can quantitatively describe the interaction between oxides and carriers; since the late 1980s, he and his collaborators have spent about 10 years to study the chemical reaction mechanism of synthesizing ultrafine amorphous alloys; in the late 1990s, with the rise of nanomaterials research boom, Chen Yi, who is highly sensitive to the scientific frontier, has begun to study the catalytic performance of ultra-fine-scale composite oxides. And gradually expanded the research into the field of mesoscopic chemistry. In addition, he also attaches great importance to cooperation and exchanges with domestic and foreign countries, and innovatively applies advanced management experience and concepts to the teaching, scientific research and management of the Department of Chemistry, which promotes the comprehensive development of the Department of Chemistry of NTU.
During his tenure as acting president, Chen Yi, together with the members of the school's leadership team, led the academic and management backbone of the whole school to share weal and woe, constantly forge ahead, overcome many difficulties, and promote the rapid development of teaching and scientific research of NTU.
"Ten years of trees, a hundred years of tree people." Why is it called a hundred-year-old tree man? The development of a century-old famous school, its spirit and guiding ideology, as well as the spiritual temperament of the old predecessors, are valuable assets accumulated over time, and a good school spirit is an heirloom worth cherishing. ”
Chen Yi said that the embodiment of the spirit of Nanda can be seen in many Nanda people. He recalled that one morning, he met a logistics comrade who was riding a bicycle around the campus in the Drum Tower Campus, and asked him what he was doing when he was still early to work. The logistics comrade replied that every day before going to work, he had to inspect the campus first to ensure that everything was normal. "I smell the respect of the students, this is a very worthy example to learn, if everyone can treat the work like this, care about the school, our education will not flourish?" 」
The strategy of learning: preaching and solving puzzles and teaching people to fish
When Chen Yi was studying and just starting to work, the proportion of scientific research in colleges and universities was very low, and the Academy of Sciences was the unit specializing in scientific research. It was not until 1977, when Deng Xiaoping proposed that "institutions of higher learning, especially key institutions of higher learning, are an important aspect of scientific research", that the proportion of scientific research in colleges and universities began to gradually increase. Chen Yi believes that colleges and universities now shoulder a number of functions such as teaching, scientific research, and serving the society, and need to take into account the overall situation. It is very necessary to carry out scientific research in colleges and universities, but it is even more necessary to pay more attention to cultivating talents and improving the level of education through scientific research. "The primary task of colleges and universities is to cultivate talents, which is also the primary responsibility of university teachers."
Talking about cultivating talents, Chen Yi pointed out that it is the fine tradition of NTU that excellent teachers are on the front line of undergraduate teaching. "The teacher of the theoretical physics course is Cheng Kaijia, the chemical industry is Shi Jun, the inorganic chemistry is Dai Anbang, the organic chemistry is Gao Jiyu, Li Jingsheng and Tao Tong, and the physical chemistry is Li Fangxun and Fu Xiancai..." The content taught by the famous teachers is different, and the teaching methods are not the same, but they all strive for excellence and do their studies with meticulous and strict requirements. Students are influenced in such an atmosphere, and the good learning style is naturally passed on.
Teacher, so preaching and teaching karma to solve puzzles also. "We can't always prescribe students' research projects, let alone determine their future development path." What we can do is to be strict, the so-called deep love, even more, only with high standards of students, in order to better let them grow into talents. Chen Yi always advocates that there is something to be done at each stage, that each stage should be done well, and that teachers should be good guides for students at all stages.
"The undergraduate stage is the most critical period for students to grow in body, knowledge, and worldview in their lives, and some habits and ideas are difficult to change once they are formed." At this stage, it is necessary to 'emphasize teaching', so that students can lay a good foundation, and it is possible to cope with it freely in the changeable society in the future. Graduate students are learning in the exploration of the unknown, at this stage, a large number of teaching activities are carried out through scientific research, and in the process of cultivating people, they often produce results at the same time, so that 'teaching and scientific research are parallel'. Chen Yi believes that undergraduate students should broaden their subject areas and participate in scientific research in an appropriate amount, while graduate students should prevent only seeing papers and not seeing people, work setting up high-level basic courses, teach according to their aptitudes, and truly do their best and get what they want.
The way to go far: after the reward is learned, it is selected for the country
In the summer of 1988, Chen Yi used the summer vacation time to carry out cooperative scientific research at the University of Wisconsin in the United States, in August of the same year, President Qu Qinyue visited the United States, he was not far away from Chicago to Madison to visit Chen Yi, invited him to return to the school as vice president, Chen Yi, who was in the academic ascendancy period, resolutely returned to China, concentrated on school administrative work, until 1997 after leaving office, he returned to teaching and scientific research full-time, and was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005. "At that time, the school conditions were relatively difficult, and Principal Qu and I had the same school philosophy, pushing the heart and treating each other with sincerity. I want to create good learning conditions and environment for the school as much as possible, which is also my duty. ”
"I was born in Fuzhou, when I was a child, I experienced the Japanese invasion, I had no books to read, and although the days of closing the door all day were not long, they were really unforgettable. In 1949, I saw the People's Liberation Army entering the city to stay on the road overnight without disturbing the households, the cadres were hard and simple, the wind was clean, and the stark contrast between the new and old societies made me feel the good of the new society and the good of the Communist Party. Chen Yi said that he entered Nanjing University through the unified examination in 1951, where he was educated by the party and the school, and met many good teachers and friends, and this study experience benefited him for life.
"From young students to teachers, joining the league and joining the party, my personal experience made me firmly believe that only the Communist Party can save China." In the past few decades, I have formed an indissoluble relationship with the school, shared weal and woe, experienced hardships, and finally enjoyed seeing NTU rank among the forefront of domestic universities and moving towards the world-class, and I am glad to see the prosperity of the motherland. Chen Yi said emotionally.
Chen Yi believes that it is necessary to attach importance to the selection of "talents who are better than blue out of blue." After retirement, many juniors still come to him for advice. "There's an idiom in China called 'Old Horse Zhitu,' but I'm going to add a few notes." In Chen Yi's view, the old horse knows the old way, and what he knows is the old experience and lessons, and the new road depends on a strong horse that can cut through thorns and thorns, not on the old horse.
In the face of the fierce competition for scientific research in the world today, Chen Yi encouraged young "strong horses" working in the front line, grasping the dynamics of disciplines, aiming at the forefront of the world, training students in a rigorous and realistic manner, combined with the problems that urgently need to be solved in the development of the national economy, pioneering and innovating, and contributing to national development. (Qi Qi, Yu Yuehan, Guo Qipan, Xia Wenyan)
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