Zheng Ji (biochemist)

Zheng Ji (Chinese: 郑集) (6 May 1900 – 29 July 2010) also known as Libin T. Cheng (his last name was spelled as Cheng in the Wade-Giles system before Pinyin was used to spell the names of Chinese people and places),[1] was a Chinese nutritionist and a pioneering biochemist. He was reputed to be the world's oldest professor and the founder of modern nutrition science in China, having lived to the age of 110.

Zheng Ji
Zheng Ji in 1935
Born(1900-05-06)6 May 1900
Nanxi, Sichuan,
China
Died(2010-07-29)29 July 2010
(aged 110 years, 84 days)
Nanjing, Jiangsu,
China
EducationNational Southeastern University, National Central University, Nanjing University, Ohio State University, Yale, Indiana University
Occupation(s)Nutritionist and professor of biochemistry, institute founder, tutor
Known forScientific Research Institute of China, Biology Professor and department head at Central Medical School, Eastern China Military School, Professor of Biology and head of biochemistry Nanjing Medical University
In this article, the surname is Zhèng.

Early life

Libin T. Cheng was born in Nanxi County, Sichuan Province, China.

In 1924 Zheng Ji passed the entrance exam for the National Southeastern University (originally known as the Nanjing Advanced Normal School and renamed the National Central University in 1928, and then the Nanjing University)and studied at the biology department.

In 1930 he went to America to study, majoring in biochemistry at Ohio State University and earned his M.S. in 1931. He also attended Yale and Indiana University, and obtained his PhD from Indiana University in 1934.[2]

In the same year, he was elected to membership of the Sigma Xi Society based on his research achievement and potential.

Career

As early as 1931, Cheng became a member of the American Branch of The Science Society of China [3] and had his co-authored research paper “Motor Localization on the Cerebral Cortex of the Guinea-pig (Cavia Cobaya)” published in The Journal of Comparative Neurology.[4]

Returning to China in 1934, Cheng “took charge of establishing the Department of Physiological Chemistry in the Biological Laboratory of the Science Society of China” [5]

He successively served both as a professor and the director of the Department of Biochemistry in the Medical School of National Central University. Simultaneously, he taught at the Eastern China Military Medical School and at the Number 4 Military Medical College. Since 1950, Cheng had worked both as a biology professor and the head of the Department of Biochemistry department at the Nanjing Medical University.

In 1945, at the Medical School of National Central University, he established a biochemistry research institute to train graduate students. This was the first formal organization in China to teach biochemistry to graduate students, training a large number of students who went on to work in a variety of fields. After turning 70 he began to study the biochemistry of old age, proposing a theory of metabolic imbalance, forming the basis of geriatric biochemistry in China.

He participated in the establishment of the Chinese Nutrition Society and, later on, the Biochemistry Society. He was a past chairman of the Central University Professors Association and the first council chair of the Chinese Nutrition Society. He had written many teaching materials and writing textbooks. Some of his textbooks are still in use, such as General Biochemistry.

After the age of 100, he still taught and wrote books. He received many honorable certificates and awards in China and abroad.

In 2010, Dr. E. Gordon Gee, president of the Ohio State University visited Zheng(Cheng) in Nanjing.[6]

Zheng turned 110 in May 2010 and at the time was claimed to be the oldest professor living in the world.[7] He spent the greater part of his life teaching at the medical school and biology department of Nanjing University. He died on 29 July 2010.[8] He was listed as one of the great minds in Chinese biophysics in the older generation of biophysicists in China.[9]

Award
  • 21st-Century Award for Achievement, International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England, 2003 [10]
  • International Man of the Year of 1992-1933 from the International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England, 1993
  • A golden key fob from Sigma Xi, 1934

See also

References
  1. He Zhang (2020). "RECOLLECTION : A 110-year-old wise man: Professor Libin T. Cheng, one of the founders of biochemistry and nutrition in China" (PDF). Protein Cell. 11 (2): 79–81. doi:10.1007/s13238-017-0428-0. PMC 6954895. PMID 28540654.
  2. "IU•CHEMISTRY Association of Indiana University Chemists Alumni Journal" (PDF). Chem.indiana.edu. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  3. [File 3-1: Correspondence, meeting manual, lists of members, Charter(221 pages), 1930 - 1934 | HOLLIS for (harvard.edu)]
  4. Ping, C.; Chang, T. H.; Cheng, L. T. (9 April 1931). "Motor localization on the cerebral cortex of the guinea-pig (Cavia cobaya)". The Journal of Comparative Neurology. 52 (2): 247–254. doi:10.1002/cne.900520203. S2CID 86481771. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  5. Zhang, He (1 February 2020). "A 110-year-old wise man: Professor Libin T. Cheng, one of the founders of biochemistry and nutrition in China". Protein & Cell. 11 (2): 79–81. doi:10.1007/s13238-017-0428-0. PMC 6954895. PMID 28540654. Retrieved 9 March 2022 – via Springer Link.
  6. "President Gee travels to China to promote OSU's global diversity". Thelantern.com. 3 June 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  7. "World's oldest professor turns 109". China Central Television. 7 May 2009.
  8. "Nanjing: World's oldest professor, who kept working after 100, passes away". news.cn (in Chinese). 30 July 2010. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  9. "Biophysics scientists in China". En.bsc.org.cn. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  10. "百岁老教授郑集获21世纪世界最有成就奖_科学探索_科技时代_新浪网". Tech.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
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