Chung publishes new book on “Road to Scientific Success”

By Marcene Robinson

The book, “The Road to Scientific Success: Inspiring Life Stories of Prominent Researchers: Volume 3,” shares the journeys of prominent researchers who overcame various challenges to achieve scientific notoriety.

The researchers featured in the third volume include:

• Xiu-Yun Chuan, professor at Peking University, China.
• Zulkhair Mansurov, professor at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan.
• Merton C. Flemings, Toyota Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Yiu-Wing Mai, chair and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Sydney.

Published in June, the book is available through World Scientific, Amazon, and Rakuten Kobo.

“The book is unique in its emphasis on the road to scientific success rather than the science itself,” says Chung, who has edited each of the volumes, with the first published in 2006.

“Scientists communicate much on their science through research publications, but they tend to talk much less, if at all, on the challenges encountered on the road to success,” she said. “Information on the road to scientific success is helpful to people that are considering embarking on the journey or are in the middle of the journey. These people need inspiration and encouragement. Unless the information is recorded, it would be lost.”

Chung, who joined UB in 1986, is a prolific scholar and dedicated teacher with over 600 peer-reviewed journal publications and 37 doctoral graduates. She specializes in materials science and engineering and is a pioneer in the field of multifunctional structural materials.

She is the recipient of numerous honors and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Carbon Society and ASM International (formerly known as American Society for Metals). She earned a doctorate in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and both a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree from the California Institute of Technology.

Among the books Chung has authored are “Functional Materials,” “Carbon Materials,” and “Composite Materials.” She also co-authored “Piloted to Serve,” an autobiography of her mother, Rebecca Chan Chung, a nurse with the Flying Tigers, U.S. Army and China National Aviation Corporation during World War II.