Professor Xu Zhihong has served as President of Peking University and is currently a Professor in the College of Life Sciences at Peking University and in the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology (SIPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
Professor Xu's research interests include plant development, plant cell culture and genetic manipulation, and plant biotechnology. He studied botany at Peking University, graduating in 1965. He joined SIPP at CAS as a graduate student in 1965 and, on graduating in 1969, began his academic career there. He was a visiting scholar at the John Innes Institute and Nottingham University in the UK from 1979 to 1981 respectively.
Professor Xu became the Deputy Director of SIPP in 1983 and Director in 1991. He was appointed Vice-President of CAS in 1992, and served as the 30th President of Peking University from 1999 to 2008.
At present, Professor Xu is an academician of CAS, a member of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, Chairman of UNESCO's Chinese National Committee of Man and of Biosphere, President of the Chinese Society of Plant Biology, and an Honorary Professor at HKU.
In recognition of his contributions to higher education and society, the University has resolved to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa.
