Wu Yi-Fang

Who was Wu Yi-Fang?

Dr. Wu Yi-Fang 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.

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.

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