Abstract　Dr. Ray Wu, a prominent American Chinese molecular biologist and professor at Cornell University, has made outstanding contributions to several fields of DNA biochemistry and molecular biology. The most important one is the development of the first method in the world for determining the nucleotide sequence of DNA. After improvement, the strategy of the location-specific primer-extension for DNA sequence analysis was developed by him in 1968 and later became the basis of F. Sanger's faster method for sequencing DNA, Mullis' polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for amplifying DNA, and Smith's site-specific mutagenesis method. All the three scientists won the Noble Prize for their prominent work. Prof. Wu and his collaborators was the first to introduce the method of using synthetic oligonucleotide linkers and adaptors to increase the efficiency of manipulating and cloning blunt-ended DNA, which is now widely used in molecular biology and biotechnology. His group has made important progress in rice biotechnology in recent years by successfully producing insect-resistant, drought- and salt-tolerant transgenic rice plants in his laboratory. And he is working on the research of producing superior rice by transforming rice with multiple different genes that can potentially increase the plants' quality and quantity, as well as producing superior rice in the field instead of only in the laboratory. Prof. Ray Wu has also made great contributions in training Chinese scientists and in promoting the development of life sciences and biotechnology in Mainland China and Taiwan. Not only has he returned to his motherland many times to give lectures and help the development of life science in China, but he also initiated the CUSBEA Program in China, trained over 30 Ph. D. students or visiting scholars in his laboratory at Cornell University, and helped the young senior scientists to better serve the Mainland and Taiwan. He has also done a lot to promote the scientific cooperation, interaction, and friendship between the governments of China and the United States.
　　Key words　Ray Wu, American Chinese, molecular biologist, biography