After earning his master's degree from Imperial College London in 1940, he began his doctoral studies at the University of Sheffield in optical physics and technology.
[7] After World War II broke out in 1939, Nazi Germany, a major maker of optical glass, banned the export of the strategic product.
When the Chinese government accepted their proposal and established the CAE in 1994, Wang was again elected as a founding academician and a member of the presidium.
[1] In March 1986, Wang Daheng and three other prominent scientists—Wang Ganchang, Yang Jiachi, and Chen Fangyun—wrote a letter to Deng Xiaoping advocating the development of strategic technologies.
[9] Deng accepted their proposal, which gave birth to the influential 863 Program, named after the date of their letter.
[1] Wang was awarded the Two Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal in 1999 for his role in developing the technology to trigger nuclear fusion using laser.