Xiang Zhang
Prof Xiang Zhang | |
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![]() Zhang in 2018 | |
16th Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Hong Kong | |
Assumed office July 2018 | |
Chancellor | Carrie Lam |
Preceded by | Peter Mathieson |
Personal details | |
Born | December 1963 (age 58) Nanjing, Jiangsu, China |
Citizenship | United States |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Nanjing University University of Minnesota University of California at Berkeley |
Occupation | Academic administrator |
Profession | Materials scientist, optical engineer, physicist |
Known for |
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Awards |
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Xiang Zhang | |||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 张翔 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 張翔 | ||||||
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Zhang Xiang JP (Chinese: 张翔; pinyin: Zhāng Xiáng; born December 1963 in Nanjing) is a Chinese-American academic administrator, material scientist, optical engineer and physicist. He is the current Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), where he also serves as professor. He was the inaugural Ernest S. Kuh Endowed Chaired Professor at University of California, Berkeley in the United States, the Director of the National Science Foundation Nano-scale Science and Engineering Center (SINAM), the Director of Materials Science Division and also a Senior Faculty Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.[1]
Zhang received his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, M.S. from University of Minnesota, and B.S. and M.S. from Nanjing University. From 1996 to 1999, he was Assistant Professor at Pennsylvania State University and from 1999 to 2004, Associate Professor and then full Professor at University of California, Los Angeles before joining UC Berkeley. Zhang is an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering and of Academia Sinica, a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America (OSA), American Association for the Advancement of Science and The International Society for Optical Engineering.[2]
Zhang published more than 390 journal papers. His research focuses on materials physics, metamaterials and nano-photonics.
On 15 December 2017, the University of Hong Kong appointed Zhang to the posts of President and Vice-Chancellor. It was the first time a candidate born and educated to undergraduate degree level in mainland China had been so appointed.[3][4] He assumed office on July 2018.[5]
On 3 July 2019, in a statement in response to the Storming of the Legislative Council Complex two days earlier, Zhang said that he had been "disheartened by the violence" and that he "would like to condemn such acts". In response to a backlash from some 2,000 HKU students, alumni and staff, he stated on 11 July that he opposed violence "by any party, and at any juncture". Zhang agreed to a request by the HKU Student Union to participate in a forum open to students, staff, alumni and the media.[6]
In April 2021, the HKU Student Union criticized Zhang, and said that he was promoting national security education as a "political task" and was "destroying the autonomy of institutions."[7]
Academic awards[]
- 1997 NSF CAREER Award
- 1998 SME Dell K. Allen Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award
- 1999 ONR Young Investigator Award
- 2004 to 2009 Chancellor’s Professorship, UC Berkeley
- 2008 Time Magazine: "Top Ten Scientific Discoveries of the Year" and 50 Best Inventions of the Year"
- 2009 Rohsenow Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- 2011 Fred Kavli Distinguished Lectureship, Materials Research Society
- 2011 Miller Professorship, UC Berkeley
- 2011 Distinguished Visiting Scientist, University of Toronto
- 2012 William Reynolds Lecturer, Stanford University
- 2014 Fitzroy Medal
- 2015 Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award
- 2016 Max Born Award
- 2016 Julius Springer Award for Applied Physics
- 2016 Excellence Award in Scientific Leadership
- 2017 A. C. Eringen Medal
- 2017 George W. Pearsall Distinguished Lecturer, Duke University
- 2017 John R. and Donna S. Hall Engineering Lecturer, Vanderbilt University
- 2017 John and Virginia Towers Distinguished Lecturer, Michigan Technology University
- 2019 Physics World: Top 10 Breakthroughs for 2019
- 2021 SPIE Mozi Award
Honours[]
- 1 July 2019: Justice of the Peace[8]
References[]
- ^ "Professor Xiang Zhang (Brief Biography)". Retrieved June 1, 2021.
- ^ "Prof. Xiang Zhang's Laboratory at UC Berkeley". Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Cheung, Karen (13 December 2017). "HKU announces recommendation of Chinese-American scholar Zhang Xiang as school's next vice-chancellor". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Cheung, Karen (16 December 2017). "University of Hong Kong appoints Chinese-American scholar Zhang Xiang as vice-chancellor". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
- ^ "The 16th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong Professor Xiang Zhang assumes office". 17 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ Chan, Holmes (14 July 2019). "HKU head Zhang Xiang promises dialogue with students after criticism over statement on LegCo storming". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ Kong, Dimsumdaily Hong (2021-04-19). "Chinese state media condemns Student Union of HKU for discrediting the principle of "One Country, Two Systems"". Dimsum Daily. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
- ^ "Persons appointed under Section 3(1)(b) of the Justices of the Peace Ordinance (Cap. 510)". Archived from the original on 2020-06-14. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
- 1963 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American engineers
- 21st-century American physicists
- American materials scientists
- Chinese emigrants to the United States
- Chinese materials scientists
- Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
- Nanjing University alumni
- Fellows of the American Physical Society
- Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Members of Academia Sinica
- Optical engineers
- Pennsylvania State University faculty
- Scientists from Nanjing
- University of California, Berkeley alumni
- University of California, Los Angeles faculty
- University of Minnesota alumni
- Vice-Chancellors of the University of Hong Kong