Obituary of Tianxiang Mao

The memorial video below the obituary. 

Tianxiang Mao, age 77, passed away on Monday, March 18, 2019, at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital surrounded by his loving family. Born in Tianjin China, he was raised in Tianjin and moved to Beijing when he was sixteen years old.  Tianxiang entered the University of Science and Technology of China in September 1959. He graduated in June 1964 and continued his graduate study with Professor Minhua Li. After graduation, he became a researcher at the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has been engaged in studies of solid mechanics and composite material properties. He has served as deputy head of the composites group of the Mechanics Society and a member of the Society of Composite Materials. He co-published the monograph " Reinforced cylinder and the curved plate" and won the National Science Conference Award. During the visit to the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cambridge, England, he achieved observing crack propagation directly under scanning electron microscopy, which was well received by domestic and foreign colleagues.  After retirement, he was responsible for a project to collect information on renowned scientists of the China Association for Science and Technology. He authored or participated in numerous publications including “Biography of Minhua Li”.  As an editor of the popular science website " Mechanical Garden" he also wrote many popular science articles. He moved to the United States to be close to his daughter in recent years. He likes to spend time with his family, chat with friends via WeChat, listen to music, calligraphy and cook specialty dishes for his family. The grandchildren love the green onion pancakes made by their Grandpa. He was a devoted husband and attentive caregiver to his loving wife Aifeng Ren of 41 years who predeceased him in 2009. Tianxiang is survived by his daughter Yun Mao and her husband Yu Ren, two grandsons Thomas Jiantao Ren and David Jianwei Ren and his three sisters Shuyan, Shuping, and Shuhua.

A visitation will be on Saturday, March 23, 2019, at 10:00 am to 11:00 am at Higgins Home for Funerals, 752 Mountain Blvd., Watchung, NJ 07069.  Cremation to follow at Somerset Hills Memorial Park, Basking Ridge, NJ.

毛天祥，77岁，于2019年3月18日星期一在罗伯特伍德约翰逊大学医院去世。他的亲人一直陪伴在他身边。 毛天祥出生于中国天津，在天津长大，十六岁时移居北京。他于1959年9月考入中国科技大学现代力学系。他于1964年6月毕业，并师从李敏华教授完成研究生学习。毕业后，他成为中国科学院力学研究所的研究员。 毛天祥一直从事固体力学以及复合材料性能的研究，曾任力学学会复合材料专业组副组长以及复合材料学会、玻璃钢学会理事等职，合作出版了专著《加筋圆柱曲板与圆柱壳》并获得全国科学大会奖1项。在英国剑桥大学机械系做访问学者期间，实现了直接在扫描电镜下观察裂纹扩展的实验，受到国内外同行的好评。退休后，他承担中国科协老科学家学术成长资料采集工程任务，主写或参与编写了《李敏华传》等出版物。他 作为科普网站《力学园地》编辑，还撰写了多篇科普文字。

近年来，他移居美国与女儿一家团聚。他喜欢和家人在一起，通过微信与朋友聊天，听音乐，写书法，和为他的家人烹饪拿手菜。 孙子们最喜欢姥爷做的发面葱油饼。