Prof. Chen passed away on June 26, 2021 in West Newton, Massachusetts at the age of 86.
Prof. Sow-Hsin Chen, a professor in Nuclear Science and Engineering Department at MIT from 1968 to 2021 and the Guinier Prize recipient, passed away in 2021. Prof. Chen was born in Chiayi, Taiwan, and obtained his BS in Physics in National Taiwan University and his MS in Physics from National Tsinghua University before traveling to US and Canada to continue his scientific career. Among a wide range of topics his productive scientific career touched, Prof. Chen made numerous original contributions to the small angle scattering field, including novel applications of SAS in soft matter science and developing SAS data analysis methods, for which he was recognized by the Guinier Prize in 2015 in the SAS2015 meeting at Berlin. He also won the Clifford G. Shull Prize from Neutron Scattering Society of America in 2008 for his seminar contributions to understanding property of supercooled and interfacial water and exceptional record of training young scientists. As a neutron scattering expert, Prof. Chen helped many local regions in Asia with interests in the neutron scattering field. He organized an international conference in Taipei in 1974 to introduce key aspects of fission power generation at that time as well as many workshops to promote the scientific interactions between facilities in Asia and the rest of the world. He also founded the 'Sow-Hsin Chen Distinguished Lectureship on Neutron Science and Technology' in collaboration with the National Tsing-Hua University, aiming to broaden the academic perspective and strengthen the foundation of neutron science and technology in Taiwan.
Prof. Chen made numerous innovative applications of SANS and SAXS, and long-lasting contributions to developments of SAS techniques. In this special session, former collaborators, students, postdocs, and friends of Prof. Chen will discuss their scientific discoveries to remember the scientific contributions and influences of Prof. Chen and share their story of interacting with him during their scientific careers.