People who were educated after the "cultural revolution"
(1966-1976) have rapidly expanded their presence within the
country's top scientific ranks, a science official said on
Saturday.
Of the 33 newly elected members of the Chinese Academy of
Engineering (CAE), 15 are younger than 60 and a majority of them
went to college after the country resumed the national college
entrance exam in 1977, Xu Kuangdi, president of the CAE, said on
the sidelines of the celebration to welcome the new members.
"This is a great change. Before, a majority of members attended
university prior to the 'cultural revolution'," he said.
The average age of the new members is 60, two years younger than
that of the last round, in 2005. Twenty of the 33 new members are
younger than 65 and seven are younger than 50. The youngest is
44.
In 2005, only 16 of the 50 new members of the academy were
younger than 60, and five of them were younger than 50.
He said fewer academics were voted in this year because
universities did not admit students openly or in a large numbers
during the "cultural revolution", which effectively reduced the
number of professional academics.
Of the new members, seven work at factories, mines or other such
businesses, while the rest work for universities, colleges and
research institutions. Only one is woman.
Three new members are foreigners: A Norwegian oceanographic
engineer, a Chinese-American professor of industrial engineering at
the University of Tennessee and a Chinese-American statistical
analyst from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of
the United States.
(China Daily January 2, 2008)