Wang Zhizhuo (1909.12–2002.05), is a native of Fengrun, Hebei province. Wang was a world renowned scientist in photogrammetry and remote sensing. He graduated from Shanghai Jiaotong University in 1932. He obtained his doctorate at Technical University of Berlin, Germany in 1939 and was the first person who had a doctor's degree in photogrammetry in China. He was elected as academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980. He was elected Honorary Member of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) in 1988. Wang was President of Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Honorary President of the former Wuhan Technical University of Surveying and Mapping.

At all stages of the development of the discipline photogrammetry of China, Prof. Wang Zhizhuo had been standing on the forefront to direct the discipline development. He had laid a solid theoretical foundation for this discipline with his foresight. And with all his profound and highly effective research achievements, he had broadened the development direction and the service range of this discipline. As early as in the 1940's, Prof. Wang Zhizhuo proposed the differential relationship formula in aerial photogrammetry, which had strengthened and developed the basic theory for photogrammetry. In the 1950's, Prof. Wang deduced a formula with comparatively high precision to solve the problem of relative orientation elements computation of aerophotographs in undulating areas. In the 1960's, he took the lead in bringing forward the theory and executive plan of using computers for analytical encrypt. He deduced the basic formula of using computers to analyze and compute aerotriangulation and put forward the plan of block adjustment. In the 1970's, Prof. Wang put forward the concept of "fully automatic digital plotting" in China. With over ten years' efforts, his group successfully developed VirtuoZo, a fully automatic digital photogrammetric system. In the 1980's, Prof. Wang Zhizhuo successfully transformed the old subject "Aerial Photogrammetry" into the new one "Photogrammetry and Remote sensing", and developed the new subject to be the national key discipline. Now, the discipline Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing of China founded by Prof. Wang is making significant progress and is approaching the same level as that of the other top universities in the world. Prof. Wang Zhizhuo was not only a distinguished scientist but also an outstanding educationalist. He paid much attention to the compilation of teaching materials. As early as in the 1940's, he co-edited four monographs in Chinese, i.e. "Aerial Photogrammetry", "Adjustment of Measurement", "Geodesy", and "Practical Astronomy". In the year of 1979, he edited the monograph "Principles of Photogrammetry" (in Chinese), and later the English version "Principles of Photogrammetry (with Remote Sensing)". This series of works, which included the newest achievements of the temporal international photogrammetry and remote sensing, represented the highest level of the discipline photogrammetry and remote sensing in China and became the classics of this discipline.