Although Lin was born in Beijing, his ancestral roots were from Fuzhou. In 1937 Lin graduated from the department of physics, Tsinghua University in Beijing. After graduation he did assistant teaching in the Tsinghua University physics department. In 1939 Lin joined the Boxer Rebellion Indemnity Scholarship Program and initially was supported to study in the United Kingdom. However, due to the furious warfare of World War II, Lin and the other several were sent to North America by ship. Unluckily, Lin's ship was stopped in Kobe, Japan, and all students had to return to China. In 1940 Lin finally reached Canada and studied at the University of Toronto. In 1941 Lin earned his M.Sc. from the University of Toronto.

Lin continued his studies in the United States and received his PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 1944 under Theodore von Kármán. Lin also taught at Caltech between 1943 and 1945. He taught at Brown University between 1945 and 1947. Lin joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1947. Lin was promoted to professor at MIT in 1953 and became an Institute Professor of MIT in 1963. Lin retired from MIT in 1987.

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