Li Fanghua

Li Fanghua (simplified Chinese: 李方华; traditional Chinese: 李方華; pinyin: Lǐ Fānghuá; born 6 January 1932) is a Chinese physicist. She is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the World Academy of Sciences, and the International Union of Crystallography. She is also the director of Chinese Society of Physics and China Union of Crystallography, and an editor of the Journal of Chinese Electron Microscopy Society, J. Electron Microscopy, Chinese Physics Letter, and Chinese Journal of Physics.

Li is fluent in English, French, German, Japanese,and Russian.

Li won the L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science in 2003.

Li was born in British Hong Kong on January 6, 1932, with her ancestral home in Deqing County, Guangdong. She has four brothers and one sister. Her father, Li Jiong (Chinese: 李炯), was a major general in the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army. Her mother, Liu Jiqing (Chinese: 刘季卿) was a native of Beijing. Li spent her childhood in British Hong Kong, Beijing and Guangzhou.

Li secondary studied at Fu Jen Girls' School (Chinese: 辅仁女子中学) and Peidao Private Middle School (Chinese: 培道私立中学), then she was accepted to Lingnan Private University (now Sun Yat-sen University).She was a graduate student in physics at Wuhan University. She also graduated from Leningrad University ( now Saint Petersburg State University) in 1956, where she majored in physics. After graduation, she applied for an internship in the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and studied under Lu Xueshan (Chinese: 陆学善).

During the Cultural Revolution, she was sent to the May Seventh Cadre Schools to work. In 1973, she was transferred back to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

From 1982 to 1983, she was a visiting scholar at Osaka University.

She was elected a fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1993 and a fellow of the World Academy of Sciences in 1998.

In late February 2003, she received the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science Award at the 5th Annual L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards.

Li was married to Fan Haifu, who is also a Chinese physicist.

• 2003 - L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science