Noble and Diligent in His Lifetime: Prof. Xu Xianyu's Funeral Held

In front of the east hall, there was a pair of elegiac couplets portraying Professor Xu Xianyu's fine virtues of diligence, plainness and wisdom, which also implies the contributions made by Professor Xu in his lifetime. In the memorial booklet, the last word "farewell" written by Professor Xu before his death shows implicitly his fortitude.

At 9 o'clock, the funeral began. Prof. Zhou Qifeng, PKU President, Prof. Xu Zhihong, former PKU president, Prof. Wu Zhipan, PKU Executive Vice President, Prof. Lin Jianhua, PKU Executive Vice President, Prof. Yang Fuqing, Director of the faculty of Information and Engineering Sciences and student of Professor Xu Xianyu, Professor. Chen Kunqiu from the Institute of Computer Science and Technology came to condole with Prof. Xu s family members, as well as prestigious people from all walks of life.

Professor Xu Xianyu was born in Wuxing( now named Huzhou), Zhejiang Province on July 16, 1910. He was graduated from the Department of Physics in Yenching University (now Peking University), and he got the master degree of Physics in 1934. He was honored with a Ph. D degree from the Washington University in St. Louis. Back to China, he was once a lecturer, professor and Director of the Department of Mathematics in Yenching University. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he occupied the posts of the professor, Director of the Mathematics Department in Yenching University, and then professor of Peking University, Director of the section of Advanced Mathematics and the section of Computational Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics and Mechanics. He was also Vice President of Peking University Labor Union from the year 1952 to 1954. After 1957, he held the posts of Director of the 3rd Dept. in the Institute of Computing Technology and research fellow of Computing Center in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as Executive Director and Vice President of the National Institute of Computational Mathematics. He retired in July, 1986. In 1990, he was elected Honorary President of Association of Mathematical Software.

Prof. Xu Xianyu was the pioneer of China's Computing Mathematics. He was the founder of the discipline of Computational Mathematics and the first national Computing Center. He also led the development and establishment of China s first database of software for mathematics. As a scholar, he was devoted to the research and he placed much emphasis on the training of talents.

After his retirement, he still directed the research work of the Computing Center in the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He played a pioneering and fundamental role in the development of computational mathematics and computer software both in Peking University and in China in the past decades.

Mr. Xu Xianyu was noted for his meticulous scholarship and his calm and composure in personality. He always gave priority to the interests of the country and devoted himself to the training of talents. His selfless devotion and remarkable academic achievements would make him live in our hearts through all eternity.