Last year, he won the Nobel Prize in the field of geology. Famous Chinese geologist Yin An passed away at the Institute of Geology | University | Earth | Geologist | China | United States | Geology | Professor
On July 15th, the School of Earth and Space Sciences at Peking University issued an obituary stating that Professor Yin An, an outstanding alumnus of Peking University and a Chinese geologist, passed away on July 12th while guiding students during an internship in the North American wilderness.
Yin An
Yin An, male, born in June 1959 in Harbin, was admitted to the Department of Geology at Peking University from Tianjin in 1978. In 1982, he became a graduate student in his department and studied under the renowned pre Cambrian geologist Professor Qian Xianglin. In 1983, he self funded his studies at the University of Southern California in the United States. Under the guidance of renowned tectonic geologist Professor Gregory G. Davis, he obtained his doctoral degree in 1988. In the same year, he stood out from over 80 applicants and was successfully appointed as an assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was promoted to associate professor in 1993, received the Young Scientist Award from the American Geological Society in 1994, and became a full professor since 1997.
According to Peking University, Yin An's early work was to explore the mechanical origin and movement evolution of the Cordillera low angle normal fault and thrust system in North America, as well as the history of metamorphic core complexes and extensional structures. His most famous work is the study of the tectonic evolution of the the Himalayas and the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. In recent years, his research interests have shifted towards slow earthquake mechanics simulation, early Earth evolution, planetary and ice satellite climate, and tectonic research. He has published over 200 papers, cited more than 34500 times, with an H-index of 86. He has served as the editor in chief of Earth and Planetary Science Letters and Tectonophytics, as well as the deputy editor in chief of Geology, Geological Society of America Bulletin, and Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. Among the doctoral and postdoctoral students he trained, more than ten have been appointed as professors at renowned universities in the United States. Among them, Paul Kapp from Arizona State University and Brian Horton from the University of Austin, Texas respectively won the Young Scientist Award from the American Geological Society, and Bradley R. Hacker from the University of California, Santa Barbara won the Norman Levi Bowen Award from the American Geophysical Society. In 2017, his doctoral student Jessica Watkins was selected as an astronaut and is currently working on the International Space Station.
Peking University pointed out that Yin An has done his best to assist in the development of geological education and disciplines in China. For many consecutive years, he organized internationally renowned scholars to hold a series of academic lectures on Earth Science in Chinese universities and research institutes, and led a group of Chinese geologists to investigate Cordillera in North America; He conducted extensive collaborative research with Chinese geologists and promoted the research achievements of Chinese scholars internationally; He has accepted dozens of Chinese scholars to visit UCLA as visiting scholars. During the COVID-19, he taught planetary geology to Chinese college students through online courses.
In 2022, Professor Yin An became the 93rd Penrose Prize winner and the second Chinese geologist to receive this honor, following Xu Jinghua. The Penrose Prize was established in 1925 and is the highest award of the American Geological Society, earning the reputation of the Nobel Prize in Geology. This award is aimed at the global geological community and aims to "reward outstanding scholars who have made outstanding original contributions or achieved outstanding achievements in geological science." Every year, one winner is selected by the Council of the Geological Society of America.
