Photo of Qu Geping. [Photo/taian.gov.cn]

Qu Geping was born in Feicheng, a county-level city in Shandong province, in June 1930. He graduated from Shandong University and is now a world-famous expert in environmental science. Qu was one of the leading pioneers of environmental protection in China. He was also the first director of the State Environmental Protection Administration. In the 1970s, Qu combined the words "environment" and "protection", giving rise to the term that came to be known as "environmental protection". In addition, Qu was the first Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Environment Programme and the first Director of the State Environmental Protection Bureau. He is known as the father of environmental protection in China.