He is a tenured professor at Hopkins University and vice president of Tsinghua University.
Why did Shi Yigong, who has a prominent reputation, give up his glory and wealth, give up his future, and create a "new university", is he for his own fame and fortune, or is it really to give the students of Guangzhou University a chance, as he said?
Anyway, in 2018, he directly resigned from the position of vice president of Tsinghua University without thinking about it, raised 200 small goals, and built Westlake University on the edge of West Lake, and at the beginning of the establishment of the university, Shi Yigong released bold words, threatening to surpass Tsinghua University within five years.
At that time, many people thought that he must be crazy, a newly founded university, and wanted to wrestle with a gold medal university that has been inherited for a hundred years, which is a bit too self-conscious, but in fact, seeing the truth, now that five years have passed, has his Westlake University surpassed Tsinghua University?
Running a school sounds very easy, but it is difficult to do, to do this is not something that can be done with a lip service, first of all, money and talents must be available, and secondly, there must be a certain level of teaching, otherwise even if the school is built, no one will come.
But what ordinary people don't dare to think about and don't dare to do, Shi Yigong did it, many people may feel a little unfamiliar when they hear Shi Yigong's name, but what he did made the entire education community tremble.
In 2018, Shi Yigong and other advocates founded a university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on the edge of West Lake, which is also named Westlake University according to the location of the school.
Just when everyone thought they would not succeed, people began to recruit students with great fanfare with the approval of the Ministry of Education, although this university is not as famous as Tsinghua University and Peking University, but its strength should not be underestimated.
Some people say that Shi Yigong's approach is undoubtedly a twisted arm and thigh, and it is impossible to succeed, compared with other universities, Westlake University, founded by Shi Yigong, is several grades better than ordinary universities not only in terms of teaching quality but also in the field of education.
But Shi Yigong felt that it was far from enough, Shi Yigong put the positioning of Westlake University very high, he either did not do it, and if he wanted to do it, he would become a world-class research university.
Such ambition caused a sensation in the entire education world for a while.
He was born in a scholarly family, and his parents were college students in the fifties of the last century, who were particularly cultured, so they paid special attention to Shi Yigong's cultivation since childhood.
Shi Yigong's learning has been very good since he was a child, and the reason behind this is inseparable from the patient teaching and careful cultivation of his parents, and Shi Yigong has always been among the best in the class from elementary school to junior high school to high school with the help of his parents.
And in 1984, he won the first prize in the National High School Mathematics League, in that era, to get such an achievement, it can be seen how good Shi Yigong is, the most unbelievable is still to come.
Shi Yigong, who was only 17 years old, got the guaranteed place, and the school to be sent is Tsinghua University, as one of the highest universities in the mainland, the strength of Tsinghua University is beyond doubt, it and Peking University are the top universities in the mainland, and have cultivated countless top talents for the country.
He can go to college at the age of 17, and he is escorted by Tsinghua University, this kind of achievement is enough to blow for a lifetime, but this also means that Shi Yigong wants to say goodbye to his parents and come to Beijing alone to complete his studies.
When he first came to Tsinghua University, Shi Yigong also seemed a little struggling, after all, the people who could come to this university were all top talents in China, and countless academic leaders gathered here, and the invisible pressure overwhelmed Shi Yigong.
In order to adapt to life here as soon as possible, Shi Yigong studied harder, and at a young age, he quickly achieved results, he was able to adapt to the intense university life in such a short time, and he could far surpass others in academics, Shi Yigong's potential should not be underestimated.
But God doesn't seem to want his life to be too smooth, in 1987 a car accident, so that Shi Yigong's family suffered a serious blow, his father regretfully passed away at this time, Shi Yigong felt that the sky had fallen, and even his studies suffered a big blow.
But his mother told him that he should complete his studies well, and the efforts made by his parents were all for him, and he believed that his father's spirit in heaven also wanted Shi Yigong to get ahead.
After listening to his mother's words, Shi Yigong could only endure his grief and continue to complete his studies, but there was no endless way, and soon Shi Yigong received an invitation to study at Hopkins University in the United States, Hopkins University hoped that he could come to the United States to study, but Shi Yigong did not want to leave the country.
I don't want to leave my mother's side, his idea was seen through by his mother, a good boy has ambitions in all directions, if he only stays by his mother's side, then he will not have any great success in his life.
His mother sent him to the train to study again, and this time Shi Yigong's eyes were unusually firm, because he understood that this study abroad was not only for himself, but also for his mother and his deceased father, and more importantly, for the country.
Shouldering so much hope, Shi Yigong is also determined to become the dragon and phoenix among people, during his study in the United States, Shi Yigong has made academic achievements more than once, and has been highly praised by American tutors, and finally was hired as a tenured professor by Hopkins University.
In fact, in the final analysis, Hopkins University in the United States does not want such a talent to return to China after completing his studies, so it will put forward a number of conditions and give Shi Yigong a very high treatment, hoping that he can stay in the United States.
But he cares about the country, he will never agree, even if he loses his high salary and everything he does in the United States, he feels that it is worth it.
In the end, he returned to Tsinghua University, and was also promoted to vice president of Tsinghua University, Shi Yigong's deeds are touching, and he is also recognized and respected by the academic community.
No one expected that in the past few years, he chose to resign as vice principal, because he wanted to do a big thing, Shi Yigong wanted to break the school's rules of restricting students by grades, and the scores on a roll of paper did not represent everything.
What he wants to do is to break the rules and build a university, so that more students can make the best use of it, he used five years to find an investment of 20 billion yuan, and created a Westlake University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, that is, on the edge of West Lake.
Although he was questioned a lot, Shi Yigong did not give up, but released a bold statement, claiming to let Westlake University surpass Tsinghua University within five years, many people said that he had forgotten his original intention, but this is precisely the manifestation of his original intention.
Now at the end of the five-year period, Shi Yigong's Westlake University, although it has not surpassed Tsinghua University, has also created one miracle after another, with the support of the state, Westlake University has recruited students, used the best educational resources, and cultivated a lot of talents for the country.
If you want to fight with Tsinghua University, I am afraid you will need to work hard for many years.
Sources of information:
The Paper "Westlake University Undergraduate Freshmen Admission, President Shi Yigong: Every Exploration Will Be Supported"
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_24052078
Qianjiang Evening News "Westlake University Undergraduate Students Opened, President Shi Yigong Greeted Warm Applause"
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1772811748650208196&wfr=spider&for=pc