The list has not yet been made public, so The Washington Post could not independently verify the original source of the screenshots, but The Post confirmed the veracity of the incident with two sources, one of whom is from Changxian, a region of about 1 million people in northern Anhui province where Su was born and graduated from a local high school.
A high school classmate of Xu’s, who goes by the username Hyman, expressed his surprise on social media site Zhihu, a Quora-like online content platform, on Monday.
When he heard the news from his high school class reunion, his first reaction was, “That’s not possible,” he said.
He later asked other classmates to confirm, but was told that Su’s WeChat account was no longer in use and that others had long since lost contact with him.
“His intelligence and work ethic will make him a better researcher than I will ever be, and I have no doubt he has a bright future,” he said.
Sue was one of the best students in her school. Hyman said Sue was the best student in her class and the top student in the physics department at USTC.
During his time at USTC, Su was awarded the Guo Moruo Scholarship, the university’s most prestigious scholarship. According to the university, of the 34 recipients in 2016, 26 went on to study at renowned universities and research institutes around the world. Su chose to attend Stanford University.
That’s why his current career choice is viewed by many as puzzling.
“If you don’t want to go into academia and want to become a civil servant, China’s economically developed coastal cities are a better choice,” he said.
But some believe Su may have made the decision for personal reasons and that his choice should be respected.
A similar incident occurred in March when the Yuhang district education bureau in eastern Zhejiang province welcomed a new civil servant who had graduated from Harvard University.
Despite similar cases, USTC researcher Yuan Lanfeng believes Su’s case is an exception and not representative of the general situation for graduates of prestigious universities.
“Even if it’s very hard to find a job, there’s no need to take such a grassroots job,” Yuan said, adding that judging from Su’s background, the most obvious path for him would be academia, followed by business, and there must be personal reasons for him not going there.
The Post attempted to contact Su to ask about his life experiences and career prospects but has not yet heard back.
The Post also reached out to Su’s senior thesis advisor, Mike Dunn, a professor of photon science at Stanford University, for comment, but he also did not respond.
