Dean of Learning and Teaching

Professor Chee Seong Chin, former head of the Department of Civil Engineering, is Dean of Learning and Teaching, supporting the University in the operational delivery of its academic strategy and the ongoing co-ordination of learning and teaching.

Professor Chin received his PhD degree in Civil Engineering in 2006 from Swansea University, UK, and has more than a decade's 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 XJTLU-Innostrux Centre for Advanced Fibre Reinforced Concrete Technology.

His primary research interests are materials and structural behaviour of 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 70 research articles, patents and technical reports, supervised 15 PhD students for their dissertations and founded/directed 5 degree programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Dean of International Affairs

Igea Troiani is Dean of International Affairs and Professor of Architecture at XJTLU. She is a trained architect and academic who has worked at universities in China; Oxford and London, UK; and Brisbane, Australia. Since joining XJTLU, her research in China has focused on transnational architectural production in practice and education; and methods of transcultural pedagogy.

She has held major leadership roles in University Ethics and Publishing Committees; Equality and Diversity Committees (Athena SWAN); and International research networks (SAHANZ, Aust. and AHRA, UK). She is founder and editor-in-chief of the inter-disciplinary award-winning journal, Architecture and Culture which began in 2013. Some of her books include Transdisciplinary Urbanism and Culture: From Pedagogy to Praxis (2017) and The Politics of Making (2007).

She has practiced architecture in Melbourne and Brisbane; Münster, Germany and is a co-founder with Andrew Dawson and Joelle Darby in Original Field of Architecture (OFA) in Oxford. She has experience of design for university campuses and in the last 5 years has been undertaking research on what a ‘modern global university’ can be.

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.