Yu Mingfang

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yu.

Yu Mingfang (Chinese: 郁铭芳; pinyin: Yù Míngfāng; 3 October 1927 – 12 April 2020) was a Chinese engineer specializing in synthetic fiber. He was the founder of China's chemical fiber industry. He was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE).

Yu Mingfang
郁铭芳
Born	(1927-10-03)3 October 1927 Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
Died	12 April 2020(2020-04-12) (aged 92) Shanghai, China
Alma mater	Soochow University
Scientific career
Fields	Synthetic fiber
Institutions	Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	郁銘芳
Simplified Chinese	郁铭芳
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yù Míngfāng

Biography

Yu was born into a merchant family in Ningbo, Zhejiang, on 3 October 1927. In September 1944, he was accepted to Soochow University, where he majored in chemical engineering. After graduating in 1948, he was hired as a technician in Shanghai Textile Construction Corporation. He joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in 1952 and joined the Communist Party of China in June 1954. In November 1957, the Shanghai Textile Industry Bureau founded the Chemical Fiber Department. He became one of the first eleven technicians in Shanghai to participate in the construction of chemical fiber industry. He was appointed deputy chief engineer of the industry, in 1961, becoming deputy director in 1964 and director in 1980. In January 1990, he was transferred to Shanghai Textile Polyester General Factory as chief engineer. In December 2001, he was hired as a professor and doctoral supervisor at Donghua University. He died of illness in Shanghai, on 12 April 2020.

Honours and awards

• 2002 Guanghua Engineering Technology Award
• 1995 Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE)