The Resume

(September 7, 1930-May 22, 2021)
Born in Beijing, China
Agronomist
Developed high-yield hybrid rice varieties

Why he might be annoying:

He was a teacher who married one of his students.
He noted, ‘I officially kicked off my research in 1964 and there was hardly any real progress until 1973.’
After his death, the Chinese government arrested people who posted negative comments about him on social media.

Why he might not be annoying:

He and Deng Ze were married for 57 years.
He was inspired to create improved rice strains by witnessing the famine that occurred in the wake of the ill-planned ‘Great Leap Forward.’
He had to learn genetics secretly since the Chinese government at the time endorsed the ideas of Trofim Lysenko.
When told that a planting technique he had criticized was based on the instructions of Mao Zedong, he replied, ‘Chairman Mao did not study crop science.’
He was an active researcher into his 80s, including developing a strain of rice with a reduced tendency to absorb cadmium that could be grown in areas polluted by heavy metals (2017).
The increased yields from the rice strains he developed feed an estimated 60 to 70 million people each year.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Scientists
• 21st Century Scientists
• An Asteroid was Named in My Honor (Ranked: 8117)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 82]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [September] (Ranked: 9071930)
• I Died in 2021 (Ranked: 90)
• I Was Hot For My Student
• Profiles 51501-51750 (Ranked: 51511)
• Scientists
• We Celebrated Our Golden Anniversary

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 97 Votes: 64.95% Annoying