Tao Wenquan, a CAS member (academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) and professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), received the 2021 Outstanding Teaching Award at Nanchang University on Oct 15.

Tao Wenquan, a CAS member (academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) and professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), received the 2021 Outstanding Teaching Award at Nanchang University on Oct 15.

It is currently the highest award in the field of higher education and teaching in China.

Tao was awarded for his 55 years of engagement in the teaching and research of heat transfer and its numerical simulation methods and engineering applications, which promoted the formation and development of China's computational heat transfer discipline, and made important contributions to the cultivation of scientific and technological backbones in China's energy and power industry.

As one of the first students to enroll in Xi'an after the university's westward relocation, Tao has been teaching at the university after graduating from its graduate school in 1966.

Tao receives the award at a ceremony on Oct 15.

He has always been at the forefront of teaching work. He has offered courses such as "Heat Transfer", "Numerical Heat Transfer", "Computational Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer" for nearly 20,000 undergraduates, postgraduates, and international students.

Tao said: "To be a good teacher, you must love your profession, the courses, and the students. Standing on the podium, you must be responsible for hundreds of pairs of eyes eager for knowledge without delaying a single class."

In 2001, Tao was selected as a "National Advanced Individual of Teacher Ethics". In 2003, he was selected as a "National Great Teacher". In 2015, he was selected as "A Good Teacher Satisfied by the Party and the People". In 2019, he was named the "Most Beautiful Scientific and Technological Worker".

Among the students he has taught, there has been one CAS member, one national-level teacher, three Changjiang scholars, members of the highest academic award program available to an individual in higher education in China, and six winners of the National Outstanding Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

XJTU attaches great importance to the training of talents, and is committed to training first-class talents and talents in critical areas for the country.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, XJTU will continue to deepen the reform of its enrollment and talent training model, consolidate its talent training responsibility system, encourage teachers, especially high-level talents, to invest in education and teaching, and make new and greater contributions in cultivating high-quality talents.

The Outstanding Teaching Award is supported by the Ministry of Education and jointly initiated and established by the China Teacher Development Foundation and the Yidan Prize Foundation. 

The award aims to commend college teachers who have made outstanding achievements in talent training, especially strategically-needed talents. All nominates were recommended by experts in the field of higher education and teaching.

He Yaling, a CAS member and XJTU professor, and Zheng Nanning, a CAE member (academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering) and XJTU professor, are former winners of the award.