1917 年 12 月，李佩生于镇江的书香门第。19 岁时，她考入北京大学经济学系。抗日战争期间，她在西南联合大学求学，担任学生会副主席。1945 年，李佩因出色的组织能力和流利的英语，被选为中国妇女代表，出席了在巴黎举行的第一届世界妇女大会，并作大会发言。1947 年 2 月，李佩赴美国康奈尔大学学习。次年 2 月，李佩与西南联合大学学长、康奈尔大学教授郭永怀结婚。

In December 1917, Li Pei was born into a scholarly family in Zhenjiang. At the age of 19, she was admitted to the Department of Economics at Peking University. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, she studied at South-West Associated University and served as the vice president of the student union. In 1945, she was selected as a representative of Chinese women to attend the First World Women’s Conference held in Paris, and delivered a speech due to her distinguished organizational skills and fluent English. In February 1947, Li Pei pursued her studies at Cornell University in the United States. In February of the following year, she married Guo Yonghuai, her upperclassman of South-West Associated University as well as a professor at Cornell University. 

1951 年，李佩在康奈尔大学语言学系教授中文。虽然身在国外，李佩却时刻心系祖国的发展。1956 年 9 月，李佩与丈夫郭永怀带着 5 岁的女儿克服重重阻碍启程回国。 

In 1951, Li Pei taught Chinese in the Department of Linguistics at Cornell University. Despite being abroad, Li Pei was always concerned about the development of her homeland. In September 1956, Li Pei and her husband Guo Yonghuai overcame numerous obstacles and set out to return to China with their 5-year-old daughter. 

回国之初，李佩在中国科学院西郊办公室工作，她推动建成了中关村第一所幼儿园和第一所小学。1961 年，李佩调入中国科学技术大学外语教研室任英语教师。1968 年冬天，李佩饱受极其不公正的对待，而丈夫郭永怀为中国的核事业献出生命对她更是致命的打击。面对多舛的命运，她却以常人难以想象的毅力、精神，继续全身心投入祖国的教育事业。

Upon returning to China, Li Pei took up a role in an office in the western suburbs of Chinese Academy of Sciences. She promoted the establishment of the first kindergarten and primary school in Zhongguancun. In 1961, Li Pei was transferred to the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Office at University of Science and Technology of China as an English teacher. In the winter of 1968, Li Pei suffered from extremely unfair treatment, and her husband Guo Yonghuai sacrificed his life for China’s nuclear industry, which was a fatal blow to her. However, in the face of adversity, she continued to devote herself wholeheartedly to China’s education with unimaginable perseverance and spirit.

1978 年 4 月，她担任中国科学技术大学研究生院（今中国科学院大学）外语教研室主任。她四处寻求英语教育人才。李佩率先主持自编教材，她编写的第一套研究生系列教材荣获国家优秀图书奖，一直被沿用至今。在与多名外籍教师的探讨下，李佩根据研究生入学考试的情况，将国内英语的教学方法进行改革，将科学知识和外语教学相结合，她的这种教学方法，被专家称作“开创了应用语言学的先河”。针对当时我国高校英语教育人才匮乏的情况，李佩又高瞻远瞩地创办了国内首期应用语言学专业研究生师资班。 

In April 1978, Li Pei served as the director of the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Office at the Graduate School of University of Science and Technology of China. She sought English education talents everywhere. Li Pei took the lead in compiling teaching materials, and the first set of graduate series textbooks she wrote won the National Excellent Book Award and has been in use until today. Through discussions with many foreign teachers, Li Pei reformed the teaching methods of English in China based on the GRE exam, combining scientific knowledge with foreign language teaching. Her innovative teaching strategies were recognized as the pioneering work on Applied Linguistics by experts. In response to the shortage of English education talents in Chinese universities at that time, Li Pei farsightedly began the first Applied Linguistics graduate teacher training program in China. 

1998 年，李佩离开了教学岗位，却没有放慢她奉献的脚步。81 岁那年，她创办“中关村大讲坛”。她邀请国内外顶尖科学家、人文艺术领域的大家开讲，所有费用都由她个人出资补贴，这个论坛坚持了 600 多期，成为影响几代人的知识圣殿。2008 年，她将自己 60 万元的积蓄分别捐赠给了中国科学院力学研究所和中国科学技术大学。

Though she retired from teaching in 1998, Li Pei did not slow down her pace of dedicating herself to society. At the age of 81, she set up Zhongguancun Lecture Hall. She invited top scientists and experts in the humanities and arts fields at home and abroad to give lectures, and all expenses were subsidized by her personally. This forum persisted for more than 600 sessions and became a hall of knowledge that influenced several generations. In 2008, she donated her savings of 600,000 yuan to Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of Science and Technology of China respectively. 

晚年的李佩一直住在中关村一间小小的屋子里，她身上穿的是旧衣服，却永远干净整洁。头发依旧梳得整整齐齐，一如往昔。2017 年 1 月 12 日，李佩静静地离开了，享年 99 岁。人们将她与郭永怀的骨灰一起合葬在中国科学院大学郭永怀雕像下。

In her later years, Li Pei lived in a small room in Zhongguancun. She wore old clothes, but they were always clean and tidy. Her hair was still neatly combed as what it used to. On January 12, 2017, Li Pei passed away peacefully at the age of 99. Her ashes were interred together with GuoYonghuai’s beneath his statue in Institute of Mechanics of Chinese Academy of Science. 

2018 年 7 月 20 日，国际小行星中心发布公告，两颗小行星以中国人的名字命名。编号为 212797 号的小行星被永久命名为“李佩星”；编号 212796 的小行星被命名为“郭永怀星”。这对夫妻双子星的荣誉，在全世界都是独一无二的。李佩与丈夫以星星的身份再度在太空相遇，让世人仰望。

On July 20, 2018, the International Astronomical Union announced that two asteroids were named after Chinese names. The asteroid numbered 212797 was permanently named “Li Pei”; the asteroid numbered 212796 was named “Guo Yonghuai”. The two celestial bodies are also known as the only twin asteroids in the world that are named in honor of a married couple. Li Pei and her husband reunite again in space as stars, making the whole world look up in awe.