Facts:   - death place: cambridge , massachusetts , united states    - module: yes - jen 4 ceu5 ngion4 nin5 ziu6 jyun4 jam6 jiuh 赵元任 yùhn yahm tiō goân-jīm jaw yuan-renn 趙元任 zhào yuánrèn chao 4 yüan 2    - native name lang: zh    - native name: 趙元任    - known for: gwoyeu chinese dialect studies romatzyh system , '' mandarin primer '' ,    - caption: chao as a young man -lrb- c. 1916 -rrb-    - death date: 25 february 1982    - spouse: buwei yang chao 1921 1981    - workplaces: university of california , berkeley harvard university tsinghua university    - notable students: jerry norman anne o. yue-hashimoto    - education: harvard -rrb- university -lrb- ph.d. -rrb- cornell university -lrb- b.a.      - birth date: 3 november 1892    - name: yuen ren chao    - citizenship: american -lrb- from 1954 -rrb-    - nationality: chinese    - image: zhao yuanren.jpg    - birth place: tianjin , qing empire   Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of yuen ren chao .
yuen ren chao -lrb- ; 3 november 1892 -- 25 february 1982 -rrb- , was a chinese-american linguist , educator , scholar , poet , and composer , best known for his contributions to the modern study of chinese phonology and grammar .chao was born and raised in china , then attended university in the united states , where he earned degrees from cornell university and harvard university .a naturally-gifted polyglot and linguist , chao is best known for his `` mandarin primer '' , one of the most widely used mandarin chinese textbooks in the 20th century , and his gwoyeu romatzyh romanization scheme , which can , unlike pinyin and other romanization systems , transcribe mandarin chinese pronunciation without needing diacritics to indicate words ' tone .