Notable international alumna: Xie Xide ’49

Xie Xide was a respected Chinese physicist. She earned a graduate degree from Smith College in 1949 and an honory degree from the college in 1981.

Xie Xide ’49 was an amazing woman. Born in Quanzhou, China in 1921, Xie got her undergraduate degree in physics at Xiamen University in 1946. Then, she came to the United States, where she graduated from Smith College with a Master of Arts in 1949. She also completed her PhD studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1951.

Xie became the the first woman president of a major university in socialist China and many laud her as being a key figure in the development of China’s educational relations with the international community. In 1952 she began working at Fudan University in Shanghai as a lecturer. By 1956 she was an Associate Professor of Physics there, and by 1962 she became a Professor. She stayed with Fudan University as the vice-president of the school from 1978 to 1983 and as president from 1983 until 1988. She remained the founder and director of the university’s Center for American Studies until her death in 2000.

Well respected by both the physics and education communities, Xie Xide was awarded a number of honorary degrees, including an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Smith College in 1981.