TIANJIN, July 6 (Xinhua) -- When learning of her teacher Shen Panwen's passing, Che Yunxia wept and refused to believe that her dedicated and patriotic teacher had left her forever.
Shen -- educator, chemist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) -- died on Tuesday at the age of 101 in north China's port city of Tianjin.
"With a sonorous voice, he was full of humor and passion in his lectures. It was he who gave me my love for chemistry," recalled Che, 69, about her first year in Shanxi University in 1972.
Shen enrolled at Nankai University in Tianjin in 1936, but in 1937 when Japanese troops bombed and destroyed the campus, he joined the army to fight the invaders at Shanghai.
After the Chinese army lost the battle, Shen moved to Kunming, to join National Southwest Associated University, a temporary combination of relocated Peking University, Tsinghua University and Nankai University during the wartime. He graduated in 1940.
He moved to Shanxi University in the north and founded the chemistry department in 1959, where he remained until 1978. He eventually returned to Nankai University and was elected to the CAS in 1980.
"The revolutionary experience meant Shen was dedicated to making the motherland strong through education, and he dedicated life to the cause," said Che.
According to a tribute posted on the Nankai University website, Shen published more than 70 books and won a number of national awards. He took the lead in metal hydride research and obtained multiple patents.
Shen's teaching career lasted 70 years. He learned to use computers when he was 80, while still teaching undergraduates, and even started a blog when he was 90.
"His patriotism and contribution to chemistry set a great example for his students," said Sun Wanxi, a postgraduate of Nankai University college of chemistry.
