The City University of Macau (CityU) will confer honorary doctorates upon Jian-Kang Zhu, Gao Wen, Leonel Alberto Alves, and Yafu Gong, in recognition of their outstanding achievements in their respective fields and significant contributions to social development and higher education. The “Ceremony for Conferment of Honorary Degrees and Congregation 2022/2023” will be held on Saturday, June 17th, at 10:30 a.m. in the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion. During the ceremony, certificates will be presented to prospective graduates at the doctoral, master's, and bachelor's degree levels. Live streaming of the event will be available, enabling graduates, their family members, and friends from all over the world to participate.
Jian-Kang Zhu, Chair Professor
Chair Professor Jian-Kang Zhu is an internationally renowned molecular geneticist and plant biologist. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Soils and Agricultural Chemistry from Beijing Agricultural University in 1987 and his doctorate in Plant Physiology from Purdue University in 1993. He joined the faculty of the School of Plant Sciences at the University of Arizona in 2000 and has held various prestigious positions, including Director of the Institute for Integrative Genome Biology at the University of California, Riverside, Director of the Center for Desert Agriculture at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Purdue University Additionally, he has served as the Director of the Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Chair Professor Jian-Kang Zhu has received numerous honors and awards, including the Charles Albert Shull Award and the Herbert Newby McCoy Award. He became a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States in 2010. Currently, he serves as the Director and Chair Professor at the Institute for Advanced Biotechnology at the Southern University of Science and Technology. He is the editor-in-chief of the international journal Stress Biology and a member of the editorial boards of several leading international journals such as Research, National Science Review, and Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, among others. Furthermore, he is a member of the advisory committees of many other international research journals, including Molecular Plant, Plant Communication, The Innovation, and Horticulture Research.
His research focuses on developing and applying innovative CRISPR-Cas gene editing technologies for plant breeding, molecular detection, and gene therapy, as well as studying epigenetics (DNA methylation and demethylation), plant stress biology (mechanisms of plant responses to non-biological stresses such as drought, high salinity, and low temperature), and the development of new plant biostimulants. As of March 2023, he has published over 500 papers in top-tier academic journals, including Cell, Nature, Science, and Nature Biotechnology. Nineteen of his research papers have been cited over 140,000 times. He has been listed as a “Highly Cited Researcher” for many consecutive years and is one of the most highly cited scientists in the field of natural sciences worldwide.
Gao Wen, Academician
Academician Gao Wen is a computer expert and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He is also the Boya Chair Professor at Peking University, and a member of National People's Congress. His main research areas include artificial intelligence and multimedia technology, with a particular focus on computer vision, pattern recognition, image processing, and virtual reality. He has made significant contributions to audio and video coding, achieving major breakthroughs in the field and promoting the transformation of academic research results into practical applications. Additionally, he has enhanced China’s position on the international stage and made contributions to the development of independent intellectual property rights in audio and video coding.
Academician Gao Wen served many important roles, namely member of the 10th, 11th, and 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, member of the Computer Science Discipline Evaluation Group of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, Vice President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, President of the China Computer Federation, and Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Computers. He is the Director of Peng Cheng Laboratory, Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Industry Innovation Strategy Alliance (AITISA), a member of the China National Information Technology Standardization Committee, head of the Audio Video Coding Standard Workgroup of China. Academic Gao Wen has been selected as Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE Fellow) and Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM Fellow).
Academician Gao Wen is a leading figure in the field of AI video processing technology in China. He has led the development of more than 20 international and national standards. He was applauded for his scientific achievements and won many awards, including Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress, National Technology Innovation Award (First-Class), National Technology Innovation Award (Second-Class), and six National Science and Technology Achievement Awards (Second-Class). He has played a major role in propelling China’s digital video industry from having no core technology to becoming a leader in the field. He has published five monographs and more than 300 papers in top international journals, making significant academic contributions.
Leonel Alberto Alves, Lawyer
Leonel Alberto Alves is a Macanese lawyer and private notary, a Chinese citizen. He is currently a Macao member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and a member of the Executive Council of the Government of Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR). He received the Decoration of Honour – Silver Lotus in 2019, prior to that, he was awarded the Medal of Merit – Professions in 2002.
Leonel Alberto Alves was a member of the Legislative Assembly (1984 – 2017) and served as the First Secretary of the Legislative Assembly (1996 – 2009). He served as Deputy Director and a member of the Consultative Committee for Macao Basic Law. He was a member of the Preparatory Committee of the Macao Special Administrative Region in May 1998, and selected as a member of the Selection Committee for the First Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region in April 1999. He became a Chinese citizen in 2004 and was first elected as a member of the National Committee of the 11th CPPCC in 2008. He has been re-elected to this position ever since, becoming the first-ever Macanese member in the history of the CPPCC.
Leonel Alberto Alves began his law practice in 1982 and has since witnessed the entire process of Macao’s handover. In addition, Leonel Alberto Alves has served in various social positions. He is President of the General Assembly of the Macao Holy House of Mercy, Chairman of Supervisory Board of the Monetary Authority of Macao, President of the General Assembly of the Council of the Macanese Communities (CCM), President of Macau Sino-Luso International School Association, and Founder of Generations – International School.
Yafu Gong, Professor
Professor Yafu Gong is a research fellow at the China National Academy of Education Sciences and currently serves as the Director-General of the National Association of Foreign Language Education of the Chinese Society of Education, a member of the Academic Committee of the Chinese Society of Education, and the Director of the Foreign Language Center of the Basic Education Research Center at Sichuan Normal University, affiliated with the Sichuan Provincial Department of Education. He served as a member of the 9th, 10th, and 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
Professor Yafu Gong has been dedicated to English teaching research and teacher training in basic education, and has undertaken national educational science projects, major national philosophical and social science research projects, and key projects of the Chinese Society of Education. He served as member of the National Teacher Education Curriculum Resources Expert Committee of the Ministry of Education, Director of the Foreign Language Department of the People’s Education Press, and Director of the Foreign Language Publishing, a subsidiary of People’s Education Press. He also took part in the compiling the National English Curriculum Standards (1993 and 2001 versions), and current Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards.
He has published several monographs, including Task-Based Language Teaching and Reconceptualizing English Education: A Multi-goal Approach to English Curriculum Design for School-age Learners, as well as hundreds of publications on English education, teaching materials, and audio-visual programs. His research areas include second language acquisition, English curriculum design, and teacher education. In recent years, he has been devoted to researching how task-based language teaching can promote students’ holistic development, and has published a variety of books on this topic.
