Weiwei Xie

Biography

I grew up in a small village in China. After graduating from high school, I attended Nankai University, Tianjin, China to pursue my Bachelor Degree in Chemistry. I was interested in Organic Chemistry when I was an undergraduate student. I conducted my undergraduate research with Prof. Liangfu Tang.
After graduating from Nankai University, I joined Prof. Gordon Miller's group at Iowa State University to study Intermetallics. I was lucky to learn from Prof. Miller and Prof. John Corbett. I learned the unique thinking way from Gordie. When I was a graduate student, I enjoyed reading Prof. Jeremy Burdett and Prof. Roald Hoffmann's papers, and gradually, I had more and more interest in solid state chemistry. When I started doing experiments, I liked bothering John for the synthesis methods. I also learned a lot of "old-fashioned" English from him. Both of them influenced me significantly not only in research but also my way to view the world. Prof. John Corbett taught me to work hard and be tough to myself, whereas Prof. Gordie Miller told me to appreciate and love others. I had an excellent time in Ames, Iowa. One of the critical points in my life was when Prof. Corbett passed away in 2013, at the same time, I was giving to my first baby.
When I graduated from ISU, I went to Princeton University working with Prof. Cava. Leaving Ames for Princeton is another critical point in my life. There, I learned how to make new solid state materials, especially superconductors. Prof. Cava told me, the best way to make people confident is to help them accomplish. After two years training in Princeton, I start to believe I can take challenges. Moreover, I realize, no matter where we are from and who we are, we can succeed if we try our best and we should respect, love, and appreciate each other.