Academician Gong Zhiben was born in Taichang City of Jiangshu Province in 1935. Dr. Gong graduated from Department of Meteorology,, Peking University in 1960. He worked in Institute of Atmospheric Physics, CAS, since August 1960, then moved to Anhui Institute of Optics and fine mechanics in 1971. He served as the director of Anhui Institute of Optics and fine mechanics in 1987. In 2003, Dr. Gong Zhiben was elected to Chinese Academy of Engineering. 

Academician Gong Zhiben has done a lot of pioneering work in the field of Atmospheric optics, and is one of the major founders of Atmospheric optics. He was awarded the First Prize of CAS Scientific and Technological Progress successfully in 1996 and 1998, and the second Prize of State Scientific and Technological Progress in 1997 and 2004. In 1997, Dr. Gong gained the second prize of Guanghua Technology Fund Award. In 1986, he was elected to be the " Young and Middle-aged Experts" with prominent contribution at the national level. Dr. Gong Zhiben was named as outstanding scientific and technological workers of China in 2001, and National Advanced Worker in 2005, respectively.