The Chuanjing Xu Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 2022 in memory of Dr. Chuanjing “Charlie” Xu (PhD, ’92, Faulkner) by his family and friends.
Dr. Chuanjing “Charlie” Xu was born in 1948, in Shanghai, China. During the turbulent years after the Chinese civil war, his father was lost to a Communist re-education camp, and he, along with his three siblings, were raised by his mother—a school teacher. He began learning English and the violin in his late teenage years, as simple acts of rebellion amidst the tides of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Charlie spent his early twenties working in a Shanghainese steel mill. In 1977, he gained entrance to the Shanghai Normal University (SHNU) through competitive exams, and graduated in 1981 with an undergraduate degree in Chemistry. Charlie married his wife, Meizhen Shen, in June 1979, and the couple expanded their family with a child in the summer of 1980.
Upon graduation from SHNU, Charlie was invited to remain at the university as a teaching fellow, an honor reserved for top graduates. In 1986 Charlie served as a translator for an American visiting scholar, Dr. Larry R. Faulkner. During a subsequent visit by Dr. Faulkner in 1988, Charlie was invited to University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign as a Visiting Fellow. Charlie started his fellowship in February 1988, and gained acceptance into the PhD program in 1990, under the guidance and direction of Dr. Faulkner in the Chemistry Department. Charlie successfully defended his dissertation in 1992, and earned his PhD specializing in electro-chemistry.
Charlie completed his post-doctoral work from 1994 to 1996 at the University of New Mexico and Texas A&M University, and subsequently entered the private sector. He is credited as an inventor on 12 separate patents through the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and 15 separate patents through the European Patent Office. Charlie made significant contributions to the field of high-density fuel cell research, particularly in lithium-ion batteries.
Charlie passed away on May 5, 2020, after a battle with lung cancer. He lived his life as an open-minded student, traveler, and teacher. To his family, he was a beloved son, brother, husband, father; to his peers, he was a respected scientist, inventor, colleague, and friend.