Xia Peisu (1923-2014)

Xia Peisu was a computer scientist and graduate of the University, going on to become the "mother of computer science in China". The Xia Peisu Training Room in the James Clerk Maxwell Building was named in honour of her.

Xia Peisu was a Chinese computer scientist, hailed as "the mother of computer science in China". She obtained an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the National Central University, before going on to study for a PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 1947. Xia graduated with a doctorate in electrical engineering in 1950.  

Xia returned to China shortly after, and took up post as an associate researcher. The Chinese Academy of Sciences later recruited Xia, along with two other scientists, to lead the project for the development of China's first electronic computer. After the departure of the other two scientists, Xia went on to be the sole lead of the development of Model 107, China's first indigenously designed general-purpose electronic computer.

She was a founding professor at the Academy’s Institute of Computing Technology, and spent the remainder of her career working there, helping establish two journals and writing the first systematic computer science textbook in China, "Principals of the Electronic Computer". Xia also taught China's first course in computer theory and was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

In 2010, the China Computer Federation honoured Xia with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of her pioneering work in China’s computer industry.

The Xia Peisu Training Room in the James Clerk Maxwell Building was named after her, and her many contributions to computer science.

To read more, please visit: Xia Peisu Wikipedia Article