Hongxin Dang (1929-2005), born in Beiliu City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAE), was an expert in materials machinery friction, wear and lubrication. Dedicating his whole life to tribological research, Dang was a pioneer and academic leader of tribology in China. He also made meritorious contributions to China’s “Two Bombs and One Satellite” program. Dang successively served as Honorary Dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Henan University and Director of the Academic Committee of the Key Lab for Special Functional Materials in the university.

Hongxin Dang grew up in a family of rural doctors. In the autumn of 1949, he was admitted to the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Guangxi University. In September 1953, in response to the call of constructing the motherland, he graduated from university one year in advance and went to work in the Lubricant Oil Office of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the early 1960's, according to the actual needs of national construction and the then development trend of foreign researches on lubricating materials, Hongxin Dang took the lead in studying solid-film lubrication in China. Since then, he was closely connected to China’s “Two bombs and One Satellite” project and lubricating material research.

In the1960's, China had a very weak foundation and an extremely poor environment for solid-film lubrication. Nevertheless, Dang led a large number of scientific researchers risking their lives to make numerous trials for breakthroughs in key technologies. After 10 years of tireless efforts, he and his fellow researchersfinally developed a new solid lubricating membrane that resolved the key problem in satellite launch, and thus excellently completed the special tasks assigned by the state. “That was all from scratch, and we’ve encountered countless failures,” he recalled later.

In 1997, due to his endeavors and outstanding achievements in scientific research and national construction, Hongxin Dang was elected as an academician of the CAS. During the review, experts from the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND) unanimously expressed that Dang made great contribution to the success of "two bombs, one Satellite".

In May 1998, Hongxin Dang and his family settled in Henan University and became the first academician working full time in Henan Province. Mr. Dang said, “Over the years, I’ve always been thinking of the application of scientific research results. As an influential university at home and abroad, Henan University has many talents, and especially many of its Ph.D candidates in the lubrication field are my students. They are so promising that I hope to offer them some help.” In the following 8 years, in Henan University, people could often see that a kindly old man slowly walked by the auditorium square, with a simple red cloth bag in hand...

Hongxin Dang’s joining greatly raised Henan University’s scientific research level in science and engineering. During his tenure in the university, Dang devoted all his efforts to developing and constructing the key Lab for Special Functional Materials. As a result, the lab has seen great development in just a few years. It has been successfully identified as the Open Laboratory for key Disciplines of Universities in Henan Province, the Key Laboratory of Henan Province, and the Key Laboratory jointly constructed by the Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology of Henan Province, the Ministry of Education, and the People’s Government of Henan Province. The Laboratory has two disciplines authorized to offer doctoral degree programs. The Laboratory has completed more than 100 national scientific research projects, with over 400 academic papers published.

In 2005, Mr. Hongxin Dang passed away at his age of 76. “He may be the most typical intellectual of his generation. He’s firm and persevering, prudent in speech, prompt in action, and down-to-earth, without complaining, or personal recreation space, or luxury enjoyment...” That’s basically what Guan Aihe, former Party Secretary of Henan University, thinks of Hongxin Dang, as do the nearly 50,000 faculty and students of this university.