UB's international reputation improved last month when Zhou Ji, a 1984 graduate of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, was named Prime Minister of Education of the People's Republic of China. Zhou is the first person educated outside China to hold the position.
The appointment was made on March 17, 2003, during the 10th National People's Congress in Beijing where 3,000 deputies met to elect China's new leadership under President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jinbao.
The Spectrum could not reach Zhou, who received both his master's degree and doctorate from UB, for comment.
As the minister of education, Zhou will be responsible for over 263 million students, a figure that makes the Chinese education system the largest in the world.
"His appointment got a lot of press all over Asia, Malaysia and Japan," said Stephen Dunnett, vice provost for international education. "It's done a great deal for UB's prestige and ranking around the world."
According to Dunnett, Zhou came to UB as part of the first wave of Chinese students to enter American universities after the normalization of cold-war relations between the United States and China in the late 1970s.
The focus of Zhou's research in the United States was on design optimization - using mathematics to improve mechanical designs. In China, Zhou is credited for developing the country's first research group on using computers to aid in the mechanical engineering design process, according to Roger Mayne, a distinguished professor of mechanical engineering, and a friend of Zhou.
"He was often published in the U.S. and in international journals," said Mayne, adding that Zhou was a focused and dedicated student.
"He spoke at conferences when he was a student, and people from all over the country commented on what a bright guy he was," said Mayne. "In conversation, Zhou often mentioned his desire to use his schooling to benefit his country."
After receiving his doctorate, Zhou returned to China, where he taught mechanical engineering at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Zhou was promoted to president of the university after serving as the engineering department chairman and dean of its School of Engineering.
Zhou's first political appointment came in December 2001, when he was named Mayor of Wuhan by the Chinese government. One year later, he was promoted to the position of vice minister of education.
Dunnett said Zhou's rapid ascension into the political sphere signifies a "changing of the guard" in the Chinese regime.
"It's becoming time for that entire generation of new 'technocrats,' Western-educated Chinese, to take control of the country," said Dunnett. "They're a group of smart, clever people familiar with Western culture and their own, leaders with that kind of experience would be an asset to the United States."
