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Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Wu John C. H.

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Dr. John C. H. Wu

吳經熊

Dr. John C. H. Wu, son of Mr.Wu Chia-chang, first chairman of Ningpo General Chamber of Commerce, was born at Ningpo, March, 28, 1899 and was early educated in Chinese under the direction and guidance of his father. After finishing his preliminary study at Yao Jeh Middle school in Ningpo, he came to Shanghai to join the Shanghai Baptist College where he remained for half a term. He spent the Spring term of 1917 in Pei-yang University, and in June of the same year, graduated from the pre-legal course of that Institution. In the fall term of 1917, he entered the Comparative Law School of China-Law Department of Soochow University where he satisfactorily completed his courses in 1920 and distinguished himself by winning first honors of his class. Being very ambitious, Dr. Wu went to America in 1920 and took his post graduate course in the Michigan Law School where he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1921. While there, he contributed an article to the Michigan Law Review on Ancient Chinese Law and legal ideas which were warmly recieved by the American readers. On the recommendation of Dean Bates, Professors Dickinson, Drake and Crane, he was appointed to a Fellowship in International Law offered by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. With this Fellowship, he went to Paris University, where he was admitted to the post-graduate in the School of Law and where he wrote a thesis on “La Methode du Droit des gens". For his distinguished work done in Paris and on the recommendation of Professor De Lapradelle, his Fellowship was renewed for another year and in 1922, he went to University of Berlin where he studied under that renowned Professor Dr. Stammler. While there, Dr. Wu wrote an article on The Juristic Philosophy of Mr. Justice Holmes, which was published in the Michigan Law review in the March of 1923. In 1923, Dean Pound of Harvard Law School made him Research Fellow in Jurisprudence. While at Harvard, he contributed to the Illinois Law Review an article on “The Juristic Philosophy of Roscoe Pound”; he was requested also by Dean Wigmote and Professor Kocourek of the Northwestern University Law School to write an essay on "Stammler and his Critics” for publication in a forthcoming volume of the famous "Modern Legal Phylosophy Series." This is the first time that a jurist from the Orient ever contributed to that series. In response to the call of his Alma Mater--the Comparative Law School of China, Dr. Wu Came back to China to join its faculty. He has been teaching International Law, Roman Law, Jurisprudence and other legal subjects. Concurrently, he holds the Professorship of philosophy in the National Institute Selfgovernment. Dr. Wu is engaged in the writing of a book on "Human Nature in Law" to be publisheed as a volume in the Harvard Studies in Jurisprudence.