| Name of AAPI Figure | Samuel C. C. Ting |
| What is the person’s Asian heritage or
ethnicity? | Chinese-American |
| Area of Influence | Physics. He received the Nobel Prize in 1976 for
discovering the subatomic J/ψ particle. |
| Date of birth or time period | 27-Jan-36 |
| How did this individual make a
contribution to their field or to society/culture at large? | In 1976, Ting was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, which he shared with Burton Richter , for the discovery of the J/ψ meson nuclear particle. In 1995, Ting became the principal investigator of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a space-borne cosmic-ray detector. This project is a massive $2 billion undertaking involving 500 scientists from 56 institutions and 16 countries. A prototype, AMS-01, was flown and tested on Space Shuttle mission STS-91 in 1998. AMS-02 , the main mission, was successfully launched on Shuttle mission STS-134 on May 16, 2011 and was installed on the International Space Station on May 19, 2011. |
| How does this person inspire you? | Ting gave his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in Mandarin. Nobody had done before. He said, “In reality, a theory in natural science cannot be without experimental foundations; physics, in particular, comes from experimental work. I hope that awarding the Nobel Prize to me will awaken the interest of students from the developing nations so that they will realize the importance of experimental work.” Ting’s speech not only emphasized the importance of experimental work, but also showed his deep affection for his developing country. Ting was born in Rizhao city, Shangdong province, which is my mother’s hometown. Everyone is proud of Ting in Rizhao. He was my science hero in my childhood. |
| Submitted by | Yiqun Dong |
| Age | 15 |
| City, State | Lexington MA |
