Wang Wenshao, male, Han nationality, is a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. He graduated from Central University in 1943 and obtained a master's degree from Iowa State University in 1949. Three years later, in 1952, Wang received a doctorate degree from Illinois Institute of Technology.
An expert on soil mechanics, soil dam, and groundsill earthquake resistance, Wang has conducted extensive earthquake research during his career. He studied earthquake resistance design and its relation to water conservancy, hydropower engineering building, waterworks building, and saturated soil liquefaction. Following a 1966 earthquake in Xintai, Wang's earthquake resistance research focused on the groundsill of waterworks buildings and soil-stone dam.
Wang is the author of several earthquake-associated works, among them is "Dynamic Strength and Liquefaction Properties of Soil," which describes the similarities and differences between soil body liquefaction and the limit of balance and damage. He also edited "Collection of Earthquake Hazard Data of China's Water Conservancy Projects 1961-1966". Wang is credited with advancing the reliability of engineering measures over theoretical computing.
In 1980, he was elected academician to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.