This young academician is currently a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, director of the State Key Laboratory of Metal Organic Chemistry, distinguished professor of Zhejiang University, and the chief scientist of the National 973 Project. His hometown is Majia Village, a small mountain village in Weishan Town, Dongyang, our city. On the 22nd, we contacted Academician Ma by telephone and visited his father and classmates in his hometown.
"It's just a small matter."
On the evening of 65438+February 65438+August, the Huake teacher of Weishan High School called Academician Ma for the first time to congratulate him and hoped that Academician Huake would come home often. Teacher Hua told him that Sun He University, his old classmate in high school, had been teaching in Weishan Middle School, his alma mater. The academician was very surprised and greeted them. Academician Ma also fondly recalled his high school teachers: Mr. Shou Naifang, who taught mathematics, was honest, Mr. Yu, who taught Chinese, was a scholar, Mr. Shen, who taught chemistry, was meticulous, and Mr. Qiu, who taught English, was from Hang Cheng ... I felt a lot. He said that before studying abroad, he often went home to see these teachers every year. Now that they are old, they don't know how things are going. Ma heard about Mr. Shen's phone number and wrote it down eagerly.
Academician Ma kept a clear head when he was elected as an academician of China Academy of Sciences. He repeatedly said, "this is actually just a small matter. Compared with heroes such as Yang Liwei, Fei Longjun and Nie Haisheng, I can only count as a trivial matter. " He said that being elected as an academician is a happy event, but it is only a spur to oneself. He said that it is necessary to take this as a new impetus for scientific research, concentrate on scientific research, produce more results, and repay the people and society.
The next night, the reporter called Academician Ma again. His first sentence was to thank his hometown people for their congratulations, and he repeatedly refused to go to Shanghai for an interview. He has always said that being selected as an academician is a trivial matter, and he hopes that the media will treat them as ordinary people. In scientific research, he is just lucky. The reporter asked him what he thought was the most important reason for his success. He said it should be diligence and opportunity.
The reporter asked him to describe his academic achievements in more popular language. He modestly repeated that it was not an achievement, but an achievement. Later, he explained his work in as common a language as possible: "In daily life, common metals have two states-simple substance (such as gold) and inorganic salt (such as sodium chloride). In general, the catalytic performance of metals is not high. However, once the metal complex is formed through the interaction between ligand and metal, its physical and chemical properties will be' transformed', thus obtaining better catalytic performance. My job is to design and synthesize complexes, develop new reactions, promote the development of organic chemistry, and provide basic tools for future drug synthesis and material chemistry. "
He said that when he chose this field, it was still an "unpopular" and now it has gradually become an international hot spot. He himself was able to carry out scientific research in this field smoothly because he solved many "bottleneck" problems.
Speaking that he is the youngest scientific academician in China at present, Ma smiled and said, "That's my luck."
Is it really luck? Before connecting Ma, the reporter contacted his colleagues in his unit. They all say that he is a diligent scientist and can be found in his office or laboratory before 10 in the afternoon. His work is extremely busy, and there is basically no rest day. But Ma said, "I'm not a workaholic. When eating, I will also enjoy the warm time with my family; When I work in Zhejiang University, I will also climb the mountain near the school with great interest. I don't know how to work if I don't know how to rest. "
A scientist was crowned an academician at the age of 40, which is a bit young. "I think this is an encouragement from the academic community to young people." Aso said. Where is the future? Ma Mingsheng said positively: There won't be much change. He likes to have more time to think about some problems quietly, discuss the latest experimental phenomena with students, and always look forward to new problems and discoveries.
"He likes reading since he was a child."
Ma 1965 was born in Majia Village, Weishan Town, a mountainous area at the junction of Dongyang and Shengzhou. The village is small, with winding roads and inconvenient transportation between mountains. Distance from Weishan Town 15km.
We came to Majia Village, which was very quiet. At noon, the villagers all had lunch in the sun in front of the house. Ma's father, Ma Xinwei, is 72 years old. In the past two days, he has become a public figure in the village, walking around all day. The Ma family has only one house, which is very old. Ma Xinwei said 1959 that there was a fire at home and the house burned down. Later, he made great efforts to build the house back, was heavily in debt, and managed to live with his family before getting married and starting a family. 1965 gave birth to his son Ma, and nine years later gave birth to his sister Ma. After the two children went to school, the family burden became heavier. Children study well, but because their families are poor, their daughters only read until they graduate from junior high school.
Ma Xinwei is simple. He only attended primary school for two years, but he has a good mind and has been working as an accountant in the village. "His mental arithmetic is faster than abacus," said the villagers. Ma's mother died 1 1 years ago, but in the impression of the villagers, she was also a smart person. She has no education, but she is good at mental arithmetic. She never misses shopping and selling things.
Ma Ming Sheng spent his childhood in difficulties. In the hearts of his father and Macun people, he is an honest and simple child and a sensible child. He is very happy to do housework, chopping wood, picking wood and chopping wood are all rushing to do it. Even when I grew up, I went home to cut rice in the summer vacation after my doctor graduated, and I kept my true colors as a farmer. I went to the field to cut rice without a hat, so there's nothing to say. The hometown people said: "It is this kind of suffering that has made him."
His next-door neighbor Ma is a primary school teacher of Ma. He proudly told reporters: "I am his first teacher." He said that Ma liked reading best when he was a child, and he liked every subject very much. He never fights with other children, and he doesn't like playing very much, but he is also a grumpy man who is always determined about what he is looking for.
The children of the poor are in charge early. Aso studied at Majia Primary School first, then at Hucun Junior High School, and was admitted to Weishan High School on 1979. During his study, he was very frugal and never spent money he shouldn't have spent. Ma Xinwei recalled that Ma Mingsheng never asked his parents for pocket money except tuition and books. Sometimes my father gives him twenty cents, and he is very happy. He always saves it to buy information.
To his father, Ma is a dutiful son. He goes back to his hometown for a day or two every Spring Festival, and sometimes during the summer vacation. He always carries a laptop with him and works all the time except visiting relatives and friends. He has been telling his father to take good care of himself, and he will take his father to live at home in Shanghai for a period of time every year. After his doctor graduated, some villagers joked with him: "Do you always have to find a beautiful wife after your doctor graduated?" Aso said, "What do you want to be beautiful for? As long as you are good to your parents. "
In the preface to the Ma Family Tree in Baixi, Majiacun, we can see that when the ancestors of Majiacun settled here, they were "fond of learning, not seeking memory, like Tao Yuanming, not seeking understanding, and they were surrounded by family members, saying that wealth was my benevolence, and there was thousands of books, but the ancients planned to go away, which was not empty talk". Moreover, in the ancestors of Ma's family, there was once a man named Wei Xiao, who was a member of Dali Temple and a bachelor of imperial academy.
People in Majiacun advocate reading, which has produced many talents in this small mountain village with less than 500 people. The village party secretary told us that since 1977 resumed the college entrance examination, Majia Village has produced more than 50 college students and several international students. The villagers regard their children's success as the most glorious thing.
A scholar who specializes in doctoral food.
198 1, Ma was admitted to Weishan Middle School. I have to walk 40 kilometers back and forth to go home, and I have to pick twenty or thirty pounds of books, clothes, food and other things. Father said that the staple food he ate at that time was rice, potatoes and sweet potatoes exchanged from Liugu (corn), and his son was never picky about food. Vegetables depend entirely on dried vegetables, which is now called "doctor's dish". Students recalled that horses were often eaten raw with dried vegetables, even without oil stars. As soon as he entered the canteen, he finished his meal quickly. Sometimes he said he didn't know what the meal was like. He ate so fast in order to hurry back to the classroom to study.
Sun, vice president and senior teacher of Weishan Middle School, is a classmate of Academician Ma. She told us: Ma Mingsheng is short, plain-dressed, taciturn, honest and devoted to his studies. He seldom argues with others. I didn't expect him to achieve such brilliant achievements after more than 20 years.
Zhang Lixin, a teacher of this school, said that when he was studying in Weishan High School, Aso was very short of time. He gets up very early in the morning, and the water for washing his face and brushing his teeth is always prepared under the bed the night before, which can save time for fetching water. After washing, he spent time remembering English words. He is good at math and loves to solve difficult problems. Won the appreciation of teacher Fang of the mathematics teaching and research group. He once said that he would definitely make contributions in the field of science. Later, as long as Mr. Shou was in China, Ma visited him every year, and he often corresponded with him when he was studying in the United States. Zhang Lixin said that he believed that Mr. Shou had a great influence on horses. 1992 During the summer vacation, he met Ma at school. Ma said that he would go to Switzerland for postdoctoral research and visit his tutors, Mr. Shen and Mr. Shou Naifang. As a result, only Mr. Shou was present, and they took a group photo with him on the Hongqiao at the school gate.
1982, Ma was admitted to the chemistry department of Hangzhou University. He only brought 90 yuan tuition from home, and he also received a school scholarship every year. In addition, the school subsidizes 15 yuan's work-study program every month, which reduces the family burden. Zhang Lixin is also studying geography at Hangzhou University. In his impression, Ma never had any recreational activities except studying, and he still kept the habit of studying hard in middle school. "On the day of 16, I heard that an alumnus named Ma in our school was elected as an academician of the Academy of Sciences, so I thought it must be Ma and it was him." Zhang Lixin said excitedly.
Academician Ma also said on the phone that he has always been grateful to his alma mater. He walked quietly in front of his alma mater during the Spring Festival in the Year of the Rooster. The school has changed a lot now. When I was studying at school, I walked into the school gate, where there were two rows of big trees and a lot of bamboo, and the environment was quiet. It turns out that there is a path at the school gate, which passes through the antique Genglou Street and reaches the main street. Now, the old look has changed.
We got in touch with Mr. Shen, the headmaster of Ma Middle School. He said happily that Ma's academic performance in high school was not the best in the class, but it was above average. However, his learning spirit is outstanding and he is very curious. His greatest feature is that he can bear hardships and be diligent. Teacher Shen once saw Ma extract a famous sentence from How Steel was Tempered in his notebook: "Life is the most precious thing for people, and life belongs only to us." He was very emotional at the time and thought that Aso was ambitious. Teacher Shen said that Ma pays great attention to methods, especially to preview. He always studies in front of the teacher. He often teaches himself things he hasn't talked about, so he takes classes with questions. Because he comes from a mountainous area and has a poor English foundation, he spends all his time studying. Every time after class, he ran to the corridor to recite words, and someone always urged him to sleep. During his stay in America, Ma wrote several letters to Mr. Shen. His indomitable character is becoming more and more obvious, and he often says to the teacher, "I want to show my grades."
Whenever a scientific and technological achievement is made, Ma thinks of the strength given to him by his hometown. He always said with deep affection that his hometown Dongyang raised him.
The youngest academician
Ma is mainly engaged in diene chemistry, multi-center reaction, selective (regional and stereo) coupling reaction and the application of methodology in the total synthesis of target molecules. Emphasis is placed on the stereoselectivity of molecules with special significance, especially the synthesis of optical selectivity. He discovered for the first time in the world that allene/propargyl metal species participated in transition metal-catalyzed coupling reaction to generate alkynes and dehalogenation and palladium reaction to generate carbenes, which promoted the development of organic chemistry and provided scientific basis for future drug synthesis and material chemistry.
Up to now, he has published research papers 107 in world-famous chemical journals, applied for domestic invention patents 13, authorized 6 projects, and written 5 monographs and 2 chapters. Since 2003, he has been a senior referee of Tetrahedral Lite. And tetrahedron magazine.
65438-0992 Assistant Research Fellow, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the same year, he was promoted to associate researcher, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. One year later, he worked at Purdue University in the United States. We found that he published more than 40 papers internationally during his postdoctoral period in recent years, and also won the support of the Outstanding Youth Fund, the special prize of the Dean's Scholarship of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the first prize of natural science of Chinese Academy of Sciences. From 65438 to 0997, he returned to China to engage in scientific research and worked as a researcher at Shanghai Institute of Organic Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Two years later, he was named one of the top ten outstanding young people of China Academy of Sciences, distinguished professor of Yangtze River Project of Zhejiang University Education Department, and won the first prize of Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award. On April 6th this year, he won the "Shanghai Peony Award for Natural Science" as one of six scientists.
The reporter noted that Ma published more than a dozen papers internationally every year, and in some years, he published more than 20 papers. Mainly engaged in propylene chemistry, he discovered the stereochemical control switch, the long-distance "removal" of carbon-carbon double bonds, and the perfect regulation of carbon-carbon fracture by metals in catalysts. His academician's testimony is: "Happiness lies in contentment, and progress lies in lack of knowledge." He is a person who often "doesn't know enough".
From 65438 to 0997, he returned from the United States after completing postdoctoral research, and unexpectedly chose an unpopular field-allene chemistry as his research direction. This chemical structure has always been known for its instability, so it has no great application prospect and is not optimistic in the field of organic chemistry. Unexpectedly, it was this "upset" that trained a chief scientist of the National 973 Project and the youngest academician of China Academy of Sciences.