Tu You You.
Remember her name. You know how, once in a while, you read a story and you go, “Wow!”. Tu You You, a 84 year old female scientist from China, will be that story for this week.
Tu You You saved millions of lives, she found a treatment for malaria.. She also holds the honour of being the first China citizen to be awarded a Nobel Prize in the sciences.
But get this – Tu You You did not go for postgraduate degree, has no medical training and… did not go for overseas training.
“Tu is regarded as “Professor of Three Noes” – no postgraduate degree (there was no postgraduate education then in China), no study or research experience abroad, and not a member of any Chinese national academies, i.e. Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering. ”
Are you mindblown?
Mao Zedong started a secret drug project, Project 523, named after the staring date of the project – 23 May 1967. Tu You You was asked to find a cure for malaria, a major cause of death for the soldiers. After studying 2,000 ancient herbs, Tu finally made a career breakthrough. She discovered Artemisinin – a cure for malaria, improving the health of health of citizens of the developing countries in South Asia, Africa, and South America.
“Artemisinin is a gift for the world’s people from traditional Chinese medicine,”
Sadly, Tu You You has been turned down for membership in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as she lacks foreign training and a formal doctoral degree. What a shame!
If we define knowledge and success on traditional yardsticks, we will never discover the true potential of a person. While we are strong advocates for education, grit, passion and focus on excelling at what you love is extremely important.
So, if you are lacking behind today, or need motivation to get through the week,…Hail our new #girlcrush!
Photo: Xinhua via AP & Xinhua/Wang Chengyun
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