Chen-Ning (Yang Zhenning), the Chinese-born theoretical physicist who reshaped modern physics, died in Beijing on October 18, 2025, at age 103 after an illness, according to Tsinghua University and state media. Yang shared the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics with Tsung-Dao Lee for proving that weak nuclear interactions violate parity symmetry, a foundational shift later confirmed by Chien-Shiung Wu’s experiment. He also co-developed Yang–Mills gauge theory with Robert Mills in 1954, a pillar of the Standard Model of particle physics.
Yang studied at the University of Chicago, held posts at the Institute for Advanced Study and Stony Brook University, and remained a bridge between U.S. and Chinese scientific communities. He became a citizen of the People’s Republic of China in 2015, a biographical detail noted in obituaries and institutional remembrances. News outlets reported that Tsinghua University announced his death on Saturday, emphasizing his long service to Chinese science and education.
