Chinese Nobel Prize-winning physicist Chen Ning Yang dies at 103

Chinese Nobel Prize-winning physicist Chen Ning Yang, one of the most influential scientists in modern physics, died in Beijing on Saturday.

Chinese Nobel Prize-winning physicist Chen Ning Yang, one of the most influential scientists in modern physics, died in Beijing on Saturday. He was 103.

The prestigious Tsinghua University, where he studied and served as a professor, said in a statement that Yang died of an illness, without sharing further details.

“Professor Yang is one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century, having made revolutionary contributions to the development of modern physics,” the statement said, praising his contribution to China’s scientific and educational developments.

Yang won the Nobel Prize in 1957 with Tsung-Dao Lee for their investigation of the so-called parity laws that led to “important discoveries regarding the elementary particles,” according to the Nobel Prize website. They were the first Chinese-born Nobel Prize winners in physics.

In his speech at the Nobel Banquet at the time, he said he was as proud of his Chinese heritage as he was devoted to modern science, a part of human civilization of Western origin.