In 1949, he received his PhD from that university,[1]: 81  for his thesis Sur les classes caractéristiques des structures fibrées sphériques, written under the direction of Charles Ehresmann.

However, Wu may have been among a wave of recalls of Chinese academics working in the West following Chiang Kai-shek's ouster from the mainland in 1949, according to eyewitness testimony by Marcel Berger, as he disappeared from France one day, without saying a word to anyone.

Wu's is generally viewed as a pioneer of early artificial intelligence research.

He was the chief editor of the ten-volume Grand Series of Chinese Mathematics, covering the time from antiquity to late part of the Qin dynasty.

[1]: 80  In Wu's view, Chinese mathematics were highly systemized and practical, which contrasted with the logic approach which is at the core of Western geometry.

[1]: 80  Rather than a focus on theorems, ancient Chinese mathematics emphasized precise and simple problem solving derived from the need to solve practical tasks of administration like dividing fields and calculating food rations.