Penn officially awards Lin Huiyin a degree in architecture
On the evening of May 18, local time, at the 2024 graduation ceremony of the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pennsylvania officially awarded Lin Huiyin a Bachelor of Architecture degree in recognition of her outstanding contributions as a pioneer of Chinese modern architecture.
At the graduation ceremony, Lin Huiyin’s granddaughter Yu Kui, on behalf of Lin Huiyin, received the degree certificate that was nearly a century late from Fritz Steiner, dean of the Weizman School of Design.
Lin Huiyin’s architecture degree certificate was awarded at the event. Photos provided by interviewees and Penn Weitzman School of Design
Talking about the decision to posthumously award Lin Huiyin a degree, Fritz Steiner, dean of the Weizman School of Design, said in an interview with our reporter last year: "We are correcting historical mistakes." He once said: "Lin Huiyin was not awarded a degree. The reason for the degree was clearly her female identity.”
The Weizman School of Design is the art school where Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng studied. In 1924, the Department of Architecture rejected Lin Huiyin's application for admission on the grounds that some courses were not suitable for women. She could only enter the Department of Fine Arts and graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine arts. But in just two and a half years, Lin Huiyin not only completed the fine arts courses, but also completed most of the courses required for a bachelor's degree in architecture at the same time, with excellent results. In the years after returning to China, as the first female architect in modern China, despite being attacked by war and disease, she still made great achievements in the fields of architectural history, architectural design, and architectural education.
This year marks the 120th anniversary of Lin Huiyin’s birth and the 100th anniversary of her admission to the University of Pennsylvania. According to reports, on the afternoon of May 19, local time, the Weizman School of Design will also hold the "Centennial Celebration of Lin Huiyin's Enrollment at Penn and Posthumous Architectural Degree Celebration" at the Fisher Art Library of the University of Pennsylvania. Many well-known figures in the field of architecture at home and abroad will Scholars will speak at the event to pay tribute to Lin Huiyin’s extraordinary achievements and global influence.
