Wu Yi-Fang

Former Wu Yi-fang residence in Nanjing.

Dr. Wu Yi-Fang (1893-1985)[1] was one of the first women in China to hold accredited Bachelor of Arts degrees, and the first female university president in China. Her Ginling College graduating class was the first class of women to receive degrees after Emperor Guangxu of China approved education for women.[2]

She attended Hangzhou Girls' School and Shanghai Qiming Girls' School, and started teaching in 1919 at Beijing Women's Higher Normal School. She earned her doctorate degree in Biology and Philosophy in 1928 after studying entymology at the University of Michigan in the United States. She returned to China in the same year and became the president of Ginling College, and remained the president for 23 years.[3]

Dr. Wu was one of only four women to sign the United Nations Charter after attending the United Nations Conference in 1945.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Roosevelt, Eleanor. "Individuals Identified in the My Day Columns". White House History. The White House Historical Association. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  2. ↑ Franz, Julie. "Wu Yi-fang, Smith College, and Early Women’s Education in China". Ginling College and Wu Yi-fang. Smith College. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  3. ↑ Vautrin, Minnie, Hualing Hu, Shui-fang Tsen, Lian-hong Zhang (2010). The undaunted women of Nanking: the wartime diaries of Minnie Vautrin and Tsen Shui-fang. SIU Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-8093-2963-2. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "Short History of the Commission on the Status of Women". The United Nations and the Advancement of Women, 1945-1996. United Nations.