Chinese-American mathematician Huaxin Lin leaves US for Shanghai institute

A top academic has returned to China as a professor at the new Shanghai Institute for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences

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Renowned mathematician Huaxin Lin has returned to China after almost four decades in the US. Photo: East China Normal University

Published: 2:00pm, 11 Mar 2025Updated: 2:55pm, 11 Mar 2025

Acclaimed Chinese-American mathematician Huaxin Lin has returned to China for a full-time research position in Shanghai after nearly four decades in the United States.

The 69-year-old joined the newly established Shanghai Institute for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences (SIMIS) as a professor late last year, according to his faculty profile on the institute’s website. The institute, led by mathematician and geometric pioneer Shing-Tung Yau, aims to advance fundamental research in mathematics and its interdisciplinary applications.

Before his return, Lin was a full professor at the University of Oregon for 30 years. Specialising in operator algebras, he has played a key role in solving long-standing problems in C*-algebra theory, an abstract branch of mathematics that underpins quantum mechanics and other advanced areas of physics and maths.

His work provided a systematic framework for classifying infinite-dimensional mathematical structures, advancing both pure mathematics and applications in quantum theory and functional analysis.

“I’ve always dreamed of working full-time in Shanghai. SIMIS just provided a rare opportunity,” Lin said.

According to the academic, his focus is on training students at SIMIS and Fudan University. This semester, he will teach the undergraduate honours course, Real Analysis, at Fudan. He is also working on research related to operator algebras at SIMIS.

Lin’s path to mathematics was somewhat accidental but driven by curiosity, according to a 2003 interview with his alma mater, East China Normal University. During the Cultural Revolution, when books were scarce, he came across a maths book and was excited to solve some of its problems.