Southwest Jiaotong University
Mao was born in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province. He entered Jiaotong University's Tangshan Engineering College (now Southwest Jiaotong University) and earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1916. He earned his master's degree from Cornell University and earned the first Ph.D. ever granted by the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in 1919. His doctoral treatise entitled "Secondary Stress on Frame Construction" is treasured at the Hunt Library of Carnegie Mellon University and the university constructed a statue of him on campus in his honor.