Guoding Hu was born on April 4, 1923 in Yin County, Zhejiang Province. In 1943, he studied at the Department of Physics of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. After graduating from university, in September 1947, he taught at the Department of Mathematics of Nankai University. He also served as the head of the Tianjin Traffic Station and served as a member of the branch of the CPC Nankai University. From September 1957 to August 1960, he went to the Mathematics Department of Moscow University to study and engaged in the theory of probability and information theory. After returning to China, he served as the vice director of the Department of Mathematics of Nankai University and deputy secretary of the Party branch. In October 1979, Mr. Guoding Hu served as deputy secretary and vice president of the Party Committee of Nankai University. From September 1984 to October 1987, he served as dean of the graduate school of Nankai University. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, he also served as the chairman of the degree assessment committee of Nankai University. After that, he served as vice director of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, vice chairman of the Chinese Mathematical Society, chairman of the Tianjin Association for Science and Technology, and chairman of the Tianjin Mathematical Society.

Since 1981, Mr. Guoding Hu has repeatedly contacted Mr. Chern to discuss the establishment of the Nankai Institute of Mathematics. In 1985, the Nankai Institute of Mathematics was established, and Mr. Guoding Hu was appointed as the vice director. From April 1992 to March 1996, he served as the director. Mr. Guoding Hu and Mr. Chern made a great efforts for the establishment, construction and development of the Nankai Institute of Mathematics.

Mr. Guoding Hu is one of the earliest academic leaders in China to explore the field of Shannon's information theory. These achievements  are called "Guoding Hu's Theorem", which is called the classic and foundation work in the research of information theory. In 1979, he was awarded the Second Prize of Tianjin's Award for Science and Technology Progress, and was awarded the Second Prize of National Award for Science and Technology Progress by Ministry of Education in 1985. In addition, Mr. Guoding Hu promoted the development of China’s natural sciences, especially mathematics, and also established the project of “Tianyuan Fund for Mathematics”, which has made positive contributions to the development of mathematics and science in China.