Daniel Chee Tsui Biography

Daniel Chee Tsui is a Chinese-born American physicist known for his research in semiconductors and solid-state physics. He was awarded a share of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1998 for his contributions to the discovery of the fractional quantum Hall effect. Born in China into a humble farming family, he received his primary education in a village school. His parents tried their best to give their children a good life despite the various hardships they faced in their drought-prone, war-ravaged village. They sent Tsui to Hong Kong for his schooling as their native village did not offer ample opportunities for quality education. After his schooling he was admitted to the National Taiwan University Medical School in Taipei, Taiwan. Soon he received a full scholarship to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, in the United States. He eventually went to University of Chicago, where he received his PhD in physics. He began his professional career working for Bell Laboratories where he performed pioneering research in semiconductors which eventually led to the discovery of the fractional quantum Hall effect. In the early 1980s he changed the course of his career and moved into teaching by taking up the post of Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton.