Tsung-Dao Lee
The institute was formally founded in 1991, due to the encouragement of American Nobel Prize laureate Tsung-Dao Lee and current President of Chinese Academy of Sciences Lu Yongxiang, both of whom are Zhejiang University alumni. Tsung-Dao Lee was named the first Director of the institute. The prominent leader Chen Yun also wrote (in calligraphy) the name for the institute.