China
In 1948, Wang returned to China and established the Department of Applied Physics at the former Dalian University (now part of the Dalian University of Technology).[7]
In 1952, Wang established the Changchun Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (originally named the Institute of Instrumentation) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Changchun.[5][8] He is also considered the founder of Changchun University of Science and Technology, a spinoff of the institute.[3] He worked at the institute from 1952 to 1983, and served several times as its president.[5] At the institute, he made a number of inventions and developed China's first electronic microscope and laser.[6] Under his leadership, the Changchun Institute played a crucial role in the development of strategic weapons, developing high-precision optics for missile guidance systems. It enabled major breakthroughs for China's submarine-launched ballistic missile program.[9]: 154
Wang was elected a founding member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1955.[6] In 1992, he and five other scientists advocated the creation of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) independent from the CAS. When the Chinese government accepted their proposal and established the CAE in 1994, Wang was again elected as a founding academician and a member of the presidium.[4] He was a fellow of SPIE and chaired a number of SPIE symposiums and conferences.[1]
In March 1986, Wang Daheng and three other prominent scientists—Wang Ganchang, Yang Jiachi, and Chen Fangyun—wrote a letter to Deng Xiaoping advocating the development of strategic technologies.[9] Deng accepted their proposal, which gave birth to the influential 863 Program, named after the date of their letter.[6][9]
Wang died on 21 July 2011 in Beijing, at the age of 96.[1][2] He was buried at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.[1]
