Tan Jiazhen (1909-2008), is a geneticist from Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. He graduated from the Department of Biology at Soochow University in Suzhou in 1929 and obtained a bachelor’s degree of science. In 1930, he was awarded a scholarship by the Lodz Foundation and became a graduate student of Professor Li Ruqi of Yenching University in the same year. In 1934, he went to Morgan Laboratory of California Institute of Technology for further study and studied for a doctor’s degree under the guidance of Morgan and his assistant Dubzhansky. In 1936, he received his PHD degree. In 1937, he accepted the invitation of Mr. Zhu Kezhen and became a professor of the Department of Biology and dean of the School of Sciences of Zhejiang University. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, he became the head of the Department of Biology of Fudan University.

Tan Jiazhen enjoyed a high reputation in the world. He was elected as the Executive Director of the 8th International Genetics Society, the advisory committee member of the 15th International Genetics Society, and Vice-president of the International Genetics Society. The United Nations named him as a member of the NGO Steering Committee of the United Nations Center for Science and Technology Development, a member of the International Committee on the Utilization of Non-developmental Plants, and a member of the scientific advisory committee of the International Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Center of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. In April 1985, Tan Jiazhen won the title of Foreign Fellow of the American Academy of Sciences. In November 1980, he was elected as a member of the Academic Department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.