A recent photo of Academician Ouyang Ziyuan

Ouyang Ziyuan, an astrochemist and geochemist, is the first chief scientist of China's lunar exploration program, who also holds the titles of academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of the World Academy of Sciences and member of the International Academy of Astronautics. On November 4, 2014, the International Astronomical Union's Working Group Small Body Nomenclature (WGSBN) officially named the asteroid No. 8919 after Ouyang in recognition of his outstanding contribution to China's lunar exploration cause. The asteroid was discovered by the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) and its serial number was approved by the WGSBN to be a permanent one.

Born in Ji'an City, Jiangxi Province in 1935, Ouyang has kept a strong thirst for knowledge and high curiosity. He developed a strong interest in the starry sky since childhood. It happened that the newly found republic had just initiated a campaign to realize national industrialization and called on its young people to "wake up the sleeping mountains and let them donate endless treasures" when Ouyang applied for the National College Entrance Examination in 1952. As highly motivated by the state's call, he resolutely applied for the geology major, of which China was in the most urgent need at that time. After graduating from the China University of Geosciences (originally Beijing Institute of Geology), he applied for enrollment with the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to be an associate doctoral student dedicated to the genesis and prospecting of ore deposits.