AWARDEE OF EARTH SCIENCES PRIZE

HUANG BINGWEI

Abstract

Professor Huang Bingwei was born in 1913 in Huizhou,Guangdon Province.After graduation from the geography department of Sun Yatsen University in 1934,he was granted a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship to carry out studies on the coastal geomorphology in the geological Survey of China.One year later,he committed himself to the preparation of a monograph on the Geography of China under the direction of Drs.V.K.Ting and W.H.Wong.The spread of the sino-Japanese War,necessitated him in 1938 to leave this half-done and accepted the offer of the Zhejiang University to teach in physical geography.From 1942 to 1949,he was in charge of investigations on natural resources utilization and conservation in the National Resource Commission.Following this,he was assigned to conduct a general survey of the mining and manufacturing enterprises of East China and then to supervise the capital construction of the said administrative region.Since 1953,he has served the Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as research professor,director,and honorary director.He had been elected vice-president,president and honorary president of the Geographical Society of China.He was elected member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955,honorary member of the Academy of Sciences of Romania in 1964,member of the American Geographical Society in 1979 and honoraty corresponding member of the Royal Geographical Society (United Kingdom) in 1980.In 1996,the International Geographical Union recognized his contribution by presenting him the title of Laureat d'Honneur.
In 1988,a second class National Prize of Natural Sciences was awarded to the comprehensive studies on the natural environment and its regional differentiation in China including three major programs conducted in the 1950's,1960's and 1970's under the supervision of Prof.Huang.In the context of the contsitributions from these programs,Prof.Huang's scheme of the natural regionalization of China was essentially in agreement with the periodic law of natural zonality published and in vogue in the developed countries.Soon after the conclusion of his work on regionalization,he began the studies of contemporary physical,chemical and biotic processes at work in the geographic environment which he had stipulated in 1956 in the national planning for the development of science and technology.The contemplation was about 25 years ahead of similar proposals in the occident while some important contributions have been obtained from these efforts,the progress has been slow for a number of obvious reasons.In view of the current and emergent problem in confrontation with the national and global sustainable development,there is the need to quicken the steps.
In the 1990's,Prof.Huang has gradually broadened his interest and vision to encompass socio-economic features.He supports the propositions that the earth system studies should serve as the scientific basis of sustainable development strategies,that the earth system studies should be interdisciplinary research across the natural and social sciences,and that the earth system studies for sustainable development should center around the earth surface.He and his colleagues are preparing themselves to carry out investigations in conformation with these nations.