With profound sorrow, the CORE Academy mourns the passing of Professor Chen-Ning Yang (Yang Zhen-Ning), Nobel Laureate in Physics and one of the most influential theoretical physicists of the twentieth century. Professor Yang passed away in Beijing on 18 October 2025 at the age of 103. We extend our deepest condolences to his family, colleagues, and students worldwide. 

A scholar of luminous range and exacting simplicity, Professor Yang transformed modern physics through discoveries that reshaped our understanding of nature’s symmetries and forces. His pioneering work with Tsung-Dao Lee on the non-conservation of parity in weak interactions earned the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics; his formulation with Robert Mills of non-Abelian gauge theory (Yang–Mills) laid foundational stones of the Standard Model; and the Yang–Baxter equation opened pathways across statistical physics, quantum groups, and mathematics. 

Rooted in Tsinghua from childhood and educated at National Southwest Associated University, the University of Chicago, and the Institute for Advanced Study, Professor Yang devoted his later decades to advancing basic science in China—helping build bridges of international academic exchange and mentoring generations of young scholars. At Tsinghua University, he served as Professor and Honorary Director of the Institute for Advanced Study, shaping institutional life with both intellectual vision and humane presence.

“Better to be genuine than clever; better to be simple than ornate.” The clarity of this credo, which Professor Yang cherished, mirrors the elegance of his scientific thought and the integrity of his life. His legacy will endure—in equations and experiments, in classrooms and laboratories, and in the renewed confidence of a global scientific community he helped inspire. 

The CORE Academy pays tribute to a mind that heard the hidden music of the universe and gave it lasting form. May his example continue to guide those who seek truth with rigor, humility, and grace.

Reference

https://www.phys.tsinghua.edu.cn/phyen/info/1144/2249.htm