Xiang Zhang Explained

Xiang Zhang
Office:16th President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Hong Kong
Chancellor:Carrie Lam
John Lee Ka-chiu
Term Start:July 2018
Predecessor:Peter Mathieson
Birth Place:Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Occupation:Academic administrator
Profession:Materials scientist, optical engineer, physicist
Nationality:American
Module:
Embed:yes
Fields:materials physics, metamaterials and nano-photonics
Workplaces:
Thesis Title:Pulsed laser micro-processing of advanced electronic materials and related transport issues
Thesis Url:https://www.proquest.com/docview/304264629/
Thesis Year:1996
Doctoral Advisor:Costas Grigoropoulos
Known For:
  • Top Ten Scientific Discoveries of the Year, Time Magazine (2008)
  • 50 Best Inventions of the Year, Time Magazine (2008)
  • Top 10 Breakthroughs, Physics World (2019)
Awards:
  • NSF CAREER Award (1997)
  • SME Dell K. Allen Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award (1998)
  • ONR Young Investigator Award (1999)
  • Fitzroy Medal (2014)
  • Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award (2015)
  • Max Born Award, Optical Society of America (2016)
  • Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics (2016)
  • Excellence Award in Scientific Leadership (2016)
  • A. C. Eringen Medal, Society of Engineering Science (2017)
  • SPIE Mozi Award (2021)

Zhang Xiang (; born December 1963) is a Chinese-American physicist, mechanical engineer, and academic administrator. He has been serving as the 16th and current president and vice-chancellor of The University of Hong Kong since July 2018.

Zhang was the inaugural Ernest S. Kuh Endowed Chaired Professor at the University of California, Berkeley in the United States, the director of the National Science Foundation Nano-scale Science and Engineering Center, the director of materials science division, and a senior faculty scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.[1]

Education

Zhang received a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science from Nanjing University, as well as a Master of Science from the University of Minnesota. He received a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley in 1996.[2]

Career

From 1996 to 1999, he was assistant professor at the Pennsylvania State University and from 1999 to 2004, associate professor and then full professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, before joining the University of California, Berkeley. Zhang is an elected member of the United States 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.[3]

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.[4] [5] He assumed office in July 2018.[6]

Events

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.[7] In April 2021, the Hong Kong University Students' Union criticized Zhang, and said that he was promoting national security education as a "political task" and was "destroying the autonomy of institutions."[8]

In October 2023, Zhang was accused by whistleblowers of potential misconduct, including the purchase of a HK$2 million (US$255,370) BMW vehicle without going through an open tender.[9] [10]

Academic awards

Honours

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Professor Xiang Zhang (Brief Biography). June 1, 2021.
  2. Web site: President's Office . 2023-02-18 . presidentoffice.hku.hk.
  3. Web site: Prof. Xiang Zhang's Laboratory at UC Berkeley. 3 July 2011.
  4. News: Hong Kong Free Press. 13 December 2017. HKU announces recommendation of Chinese-American scholar Zhang Xiang as school's next vice-chancellor. Cheung. Karen. 13 December 2017.
  5. News: Hong Kong Free Press. 16 December 2017. University of Hong Kong appoints Chinese-American scholar Zhang Xiang as vice-chancellor. Cheung. Karen. 17 December 2017.
  6. Web site: 17 July 2018. The 16th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong Professor Xiang Zhang assumes office. 17 July 2018.
  7. Web site: HKU head Zhang Xiang promises dialogue with students after criticism over statement on LegCo storming. Holmes. Chan. Hong Kong Free Press. 14 July 2019. 6 May 2021.
  8. Web site: Kong. Dimsumdaily Hong. 2021-04-19. Chinese state media condemns Student Union of HKU for discrediting the principle of "One Country, Two Systems". 2021-04-19. Dimsum Daily. en-US.
  9. Web site: Tse . Hans . University of Hong Kong's ruling body axes meeting on school head's misconduct allegations - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP . 2023-10-04 . hongkongfp.com . en-GB.
  10. Web site: 2023-10-04 . Exclusive: University of Hong Kong council pushes back against head over bombshell claims . 2023-10-04 . South China Morning Post . en.
  11. News: Persons appointed under Section 3(1)(b) of the Justices of the Peace Ordinance (Cap. 510) . 2019-08-22 . 2020-06-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200614104321/https://www.info.gov.hk/cml/eng/miscell/index3k.htm . dead .

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