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Sow-Hsin Chen, emeritus professor of nuclear science and engineering (NSE) at MIT, died peacefully on June 26 in West Newton, Massachusetts. He was 86.
Born in pre-World War II Taiwan in the small rural town of Puzi (in Chiayi County), Chen excelled academically, receiving a BS in physics from National Taiwan University in 1956 and an MS in nuclear science from National Tsing Hua University in its first graduating class in 1958. A highly competitive International Atomic Energy Agency fellowship brought Chen to the University of Michigan, where he earned a second MS in nuclear science in 1962. Two years later, he received his PhD in physics from McMaster University, working with professor and Nobel laureate Bertram N. Brockhouse, who pioneered the development of neutron scattering and spectroscopy for studying condensed matter.