Paul C.W. Chu, a famed researcher and professor turned university president, never envisioned his life of migration between China and the United States and back again. "The whole world is a level playing field for all people under the sun," said Chu as he delivered the Hans Bethe Lecture March 25 in Rockefeller Hall.

Titled "An Exciting Odyssey of Discovery: From High-Temperature Superconductors in Houston to Developing an Intellectual Powerhouse in Hong Kong," Chu took an audience of nearly 100 on a trip through his life as well as major breakthroughs in high-temperature superconductors.

Chu is known for his work on superconductivity. He is president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and a researcher at the University of Houston and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He referred to himself as a "drifter of my generation."

"It all started with my unceasing effort in the search for the path of zero resistance," Chu said, recounting his intellectual and career timeline. Through his dual careers, Chu learned, "There is an unchanging rule in this universe, and that is this world is forever changing and at an increasing rate."

Chu referred to 1987 as the "Woodstock of physics." In the 1980s, there had been an ongoing quest for high-temperature superconductors to save energy. Chu and his University of Houston students achieved superconductivity of the compound yttrium barium copper oxide above the 77-degree Kelvin boiling point of nitrogen, the temperature many others had been striving to reach.

Outside physics, Chu led HKUST to its current ranking as a top international research university. He acceped the presidency to help the institution reach new heights and transform the economy of Hong Kong. Classes began at HKUST in 1991; by 2009 its enrollment neared 9,000 students. "Brainpower is the most valuable commodity, and the university is the fountain of brainpower," Chu said.

After Chu's appointment as president of HKUST ends in August, he plans to continue to apply knowledge of high-temperature superconductors in such ways as building low-cost MRI machines.

Reflecting on the next chapter is his life, Chu said, "Old scientists never die, only fade away."

Jennifer Phillips '09 is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.