obituary
Professor Ren Zuyuan, a member of the Communist Party of China, a famous neurosurgery expert, the former director of the Department of Surgery and the former director of the Department of Neurosurgery of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, passed away due to illness on March 12, 2026 at the age of 91.
It is scheduled to be held at 7:30 a.m. on March 18, 2026 (Wednesday) in the farewell hall on the ground floor of the Surgery Building of Peking Union Medical College Hospital.
This is your obituary.
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
March 13, 2026
Contact number:
13466630378 (Teacher Lu)
17701220936 (Teacher Guo)
13520190154 (Teacher Zhang)
69156808 (Retired Cadres Department)
69156809(fax)
Life of Professor Ren Zuyuan
Ren Zuyuan, male, from Dongyang City, Zhejiang Province, was born on September 11, 1934. He graduated from the Medical Department of Shanghai Second Medical College (now Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine) in July 1959, and was assigned to work at Peking Union Medical College Hospital in the same year. He has successively served as the attending physician, deputy chief physician, chief physician, professor, and doctoral supervisor of neurosurgery. From 1987 to 2000, he served as the director of the Neurosurgery Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and from 1991 to 2000, he served as the director of the Department of Surgery. He has enjoyed special government subsidies from the State Council since 1992. He received the "Outstanding Contribution Award" from Peking Union Medical College Hospital in 2011, the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Neurosurgery Branch of the Chinese Medical Association in 2019, and the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Chinese Pituitary Adenoma Collaborative Group in 2024.
Ren Zuyuan in his youth
Professor Ren Zuyuan served as a standing committee member of the Third Committee of the Neurosurgery Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, a deputy director of the Neurosurgery Society of the Beijing Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, a member of the Academic Committee of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, a standing member of the Academic Committee of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and a member of the Beijing Cerebrovascular Disease Prevention and Treatment Steering Group. He has served as a review member of the National Science and Technology Awards, a review expert of the National Natural Science Foundation, the former Science Fund of the Ministry of Health, the China Health Science and Technology Achievements Appraisal Committee, and the Medical Device Committee of the State Medical Administration. He serves as a standing editorial board member of the "Chinese Journal of Neurosurgery", an academic consultant of "Chinese Journal of Modern Surgery", "Chinese Journal of Neurosurgical Disease Research", and an editorial board member of more than ten professional academic journals such as "World Medical Journal", "Modern Neurological Diseases Journal", "Chinese Journal of Otolaryngology and Skull Base Surgery", "Chinese Journal of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery", "Chinese Journal of Clinical Neurosurgery", etc.
Professor Ren Zuyuan has been deeply involved in the field of neurosurgery for more than 60 years, and has reached internationally advanced levels in the field of surgical treatment of deep brain tumors, various types of intracranial aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, brainstem tumors, ischemic cerebrovascular disease, functional neurosurgery and spinal cord tumors. He created or improved more than ten neurosurgical procedures and optimized and developed a variety of surgical instruments. Some of his designs are still important prototypes of modern neurosurgical instruments. He pioneered transsphenoidal microsurgery in the treatment of pituitary adenomas in China and has completed more than 4,000 surgeries. By continuously improving surgical methods and overcoming a number of key technical problems, the indications for surgery have been significantly expanded and the treatment effect has been improved. He was the first in China to propose the concept of "invasive pituitary adenoma" and conduct systematic research, establishing a comprehensive treatment strategy that combines surgery, drugs and radiotherapy. Collaborating with the pathology team, he was the first in China to publish a new classification of pituitary adenomas and put forward important academic arguments for ACTH cell proliferation.
Ren Zuyuan works in the office
As one of the main advocates of the multidisciplinary collaborative diagnosis and treatment model of pituitary adenomas, Professor Ren Zuyuan has been vigorously promoting the construction of a multidisciplinary collaborative diagnosis and treatment team for pituitary adenomas since the 1980s, together with academician Shi Yifan of the Department of Endocrinology, Professor Wang Weijun, Professor Yin Zhaoyan, and Professor Su Changbao of the Department of Neurosurgery, pioneering the comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of pituitary adenomas in China.
Professor Ren Zuyuan has chaired or participated in important research projects such as the National “Eighth Five-Year Plan”, “Ninth Five-Year Plan” and “Tenth Five-Year Plan”, the National Natural Science Foundation, the Ministry of Education’s Doctoral Program and Postdoctoral Fund, etc. He has published more than 100 academic papers, and participated in the compilation of monographs such as "Surgery", "Neurosurgery", "Diagnosis and Treatment of Pituitary Tumors", "Pioneering Endocrinology and Metabolism", "Pioneering Medical Dictionary", "Endocrine Gland Surgery", etc.
Professor Ren Zuyuan went to Australia for further study for one and a half years. After that, he went to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, Belgium and other countries as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan for academic exchanges and lectures, and was employed as a visiting professor. He actively received visits from foreign experts, carried out academic exchanges and surgical demonstrations, and made important contributions to promoting exchanges and cooperation in the field of neurosurgery at home and abroad.
Professor Ren Zuyuan has won a number of important scientific and technological achievement awards. "Transsphenoidal Resection of Micro Tumors in the Pituitary Area" won the second prize of the Science and Technology Progress Award of the Ministry of Health in 1981, and "Clinical and Basic Research on Hormone-Secreting Pituitary Tumors" won the Science and Technology Progress Award of the Ministry of Health in 1991. The first prize for progress, the first prize for the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 1992 (the second completer), and the national "Eighth Five-Year Plan" research project "CT-guided stereotaxic intracerebral hematoma evacuation experiment and clinical research on hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage" won the third prize of the National Science and Technology Commission in 1997. In addition, he has won 14 medical research achievement awards from Peking Union Medical College Hospital and been named an advanced worker of the hospital five times.
In 1991, neurosurgeons took a group photo to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Professor Ren Zuyuan was second from left in the front row.
Professor Ren Zuyuan has devoted his life to clinical practice and has won wide respect from all walks of life with his noble medical ethics and superb medical skills. He was erudite and elegant, rigorous in his studies, generous in his conduct, and taught by words and deeds. He was a good teacher and helpful friend in the eyes of future generations. He attaches great importance to medical talent training and technology promotion, and has visited hospitals in more than 20 provinces and cities across the country to provide lectures, difficult case consultations and surgical demonstrations to help improve the level of grassroots neurosurgery. He continues to explore, achieve great results, and win many awards, and his fruitful results have pushed China's neurosurgery to the forefront of the world. He has devoted himself to teaching undergraduates, graduate students and advanced researchers, and has trained dozens of master's students, doctoral students and post-doctoral students, cultivating a large number of neurosurgery professionals for the country. Today, these disciples have become the backbone of major neurosurgery centers across the country, inheriting Professor Ren’s original intention as a doctor and scholarly spirit.
The gentleman has passed away, but his style lives on. His benevolence and perseverance, his wisdom and character are like a beacon illuminating the path forward for future generations. His spirit will forever be engraved on the monument of the development of neurosurgery in China, inspiring generations of latecomers to move forward with their ambitions.
Deeply remembering Professor Ren Zuyuan!
Professor Ren Zuyuan is immortal!
