Dean of the School of Languages, XJTLU's Vice President Academic Affairs

Professor Chris Harris joined XJTLU in October 2019 as Director of the Modern Languages Centre. He then took on the role of Dean of the School of Languages formally on 1st September 2020. He is now XJTLU's Vice President Academic Affairs elect.

Chris is a founding lecturer of Spanish Studies at University of Ulster and Lancaster University in the UK, a former Professor and Head of School for Histories, Languages and Cultures at the University of Hull, a former Professor and Head of Modern Languages at the University of Liverpool, an Honorary Professor in Hispanic Studies at the University of Warwick and a member of the Irish Research Council Inner Board for Postdoctoral Awards.

By discipline he is a Modern Linguist and Hispanist, by publication a Mexicanist, and his teaching and research interests are focused mainly on translating and interpreting practices in Spanish-English as well as on the interpretation of Latin American narrative fiction in multiple historical and political contexts. He writes about the novels of twentieth-century authors such as Agustin Yanez, Elena Poniatowska, Rosario Castellanos, Mariano Azuela, Juan Rulfo and Angeles Mastretta principally with reference to the Mexican Revolution and gender-related issues in the area of masculinities.

Dean of Learning and Teaching

Professor Chee Seong Chin is the Dean of Learning and Teaching of Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, supporting the University in the operational delivery of its academic strategy and the ongoing coordination of learning and teaching. Professor Chin sits on the Senior Management Team Committee, Academic Strategy Group and Academic Board as well as chairs multiple University-level committees/boards/panels that are responsible for overseeing the general policies and practices related to learning and teaching.

Professor Chin received his First-Class BEng (Hons) and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering from Swansea University, UK, and has more than 15 years of experience working in international higher education institutions. He is the founding director of the Institute for Sustainable Materials and Environment and founding Head of the Centre for Advanced Fibre Reinforced Concrete Technology. He was previously the Head of the Department of Civil Engineering.

His primary research interests are fibre-reinforced cementitious composites as well as sustainable construction and building materials. Professor Chin has acquired over 15 million RMB of research grants; produced more than 80 research articles, patents and technical reports; supervised 17 PhD students for their dissertations; and founded/directed 5 academic programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Dean of Research and Graduate Studies

Dr Fei MA from the Department of Mathematical Sciences is dean for research and graduate studies, supporting the operational delivery of the academic strategy as it relates to research matters. He leads and implement strategies on research management, income, performance and output, and helps drive initiatives in research-led teaching. He is also responsible for the ongoing co-ordination, development and management of the Research Administration Office and Graduate School.

Dr Ma received his PhD degree in the area of Applied Math in 2008 from the Flinders University of Australia. Before joining XJTLU, he has been an Analyst of Symbion, Australia, Research associate and lecturer of Flinders University, and Software Engineer of Kingdee Co. Ltd in Shenzhen.

He joined XJTLU in 2012. His research interests include Medical and Biomedical Image Analysis, particularly on computer aided breast cancer diagnosis with mammogram, chromosome image analysis and ECG signal analysis; big data analysis; inventory forecasting; AGV scheduling and routing; and Nonnegative matrices.

Dean of International Business School Suzhou (IBSS)

Professor Jorg Bley was appointed Dean of International Business School Suzhou (IBSS) in September of 2019. He previously served as Dean of the School of Business Administration at the American University of Sharjah and has held a range of academic positions. Professor Bley also has an extensive work relationship with the CFA Institute in his former role as CFA Program Partner Director.

Before receiving his PhD from Florida Atlantic University in the USA, Professor Bley was an Assistant Vice president and Head of Equity Trading for JP Morgan in Frankfurt, Germany, and a floor trader for Banque Nationale de Paris and Deutsche Bank.

Professor Bley holds professional designations in investment analysis and risk management, such as the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), and the Financial Risk Manager (FRM).

His research is focused on stock market behavior, market efficiency and valuation anomalies and has been published in numerous academic journals. He has co-authored several textbooks on corporate finance with a Middle Eastern perspective that are widely used in universities throughout the MENA region.

Dean of School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Dr. Beibei Tang is Dean of School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Senior Associate Professor of China Studies at XJTLU. Before joining XJTLU in 2015, she studied and worked in China, UK and Australia. She obtained her PhD in Sociology from The Australian National University (ANU). She then worked at ANU from 2011 to 2015. She has undertaken extensive ethnographic research across different localities in China, with particular focuses on local governance, social stratification and state-society relations in urban China. She has published her research in high-impact journals such as The China Quarterly, The China Journal and Journal of Contemporary China. She is the author of China’s Housing Middle Class (Routledge 2018), the co-editor of Suzhou in Transition (Routledge 2021) and the winner of 2015 Gordon White Prize (The China Quarterly).

School Dean of Advanced Technology

Professor LIM received the BEng (Hons) and PhD degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the UK. Prof. Lim worked for Andrew Ltd, a leading communications systems company in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2007.Since August 2007, Prof. Lim has been at Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University, where he was formally the head of EEE department and University Dean of Research and Graduate studies.

Now, he is Inaugural School Dean of Advanced Technology, Inaugural director of AI university research centre and also professor in department of Communications and Networking. He has published nearly 200 refereed international journals and conference papers. His research interests are Artificial Intelligence, robotics, AI+ Health care, international Standard (ISO/ IEC) in Robotics, antennas, RF/microwave engineering, EM measurements/simulations, energy harvesting, power/energy transfer, smart-grid communication; wireless communication networks for smart and green cities.

Dean of Design School

Dr Konstantinos Papadikis holds a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from Aston University and an MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering from the University of Warwick in U.K. He continued his studies in the department of Chemical Engineering at Aston University where he received his Ph.D. in the 'Computational Modelling of the Fast Pyrolysis of Biomass in Bubbling Fluidised Bed Reactors'. He later worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Energy Technology group in the University of Southampton.

Dr. Papadikis joined the Department of Civil Engineering in XJTLU as lecturer in Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics. He was appointed as the Head of the Department between 2017 - 2020 and is currently the Dean of the Design School comprising the Departments of Architecture and Design, Civil Engineering and Urban Planning and Design.

Dean of The Institute of Leadership and Education Advanced Development

Dr Xiaojun Zhang got his PhD degree at Xi’an Jiaotong University, he is a Principal Fellow of Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) in UK.

Dr Zhang’s research area includes institutional change and the role of leadership in institutional change in higher education context; internationalization in Higher Education, especially the Sino-foreign Cooperative universities; research-led learning and teaching; student-centred education, etc. He has published more than 80 academic papers and 3 books in these areas. His research focus on problems in practice and pay attention to practical implications. Most of his research has been adopted in his training programmes for higher education practitioners.

Most of Xiaojun’s current work focuses on educating the educators in universities, including teachers, professionals, and institutional leaders and managers. He has developed many professional development programmes for educational practitioners across the country. His programmes were attended by more than 10,000 staff from more than 500 Chinese universities. Xiaojun created one of the most influential community for teaching innovation in China: XJTLU National University Teaching Innovation Award.