Ray Jui Wu (Chinese: 吴瑞; pinyin: Wú Ruì; Wade–Giles: Wu Jui, 14 August 1928 – 10 February 2008) was a Chinese-born American geneticist and served as Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Molecular Genetics and Biology at Cornell University.

[1] In 1970, Wu created the first approach for DNA sequencing,[2] earlier than the Frederick Sanger's method in 1975 [3] and Walter Gilbert's chemical procedure in 1977.

Wu was an Academician of Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

[11] Wu's former student Jack W. Szostak was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Ray Wu Award was established by the society to honor the late Dr. Ray Wu, who not only had a distinguished scientific career but also nurtured a new generation of Chinese scientists in life sciences through his tireless effort in promoting scientific and educational exchanges between China and the United States.