According to the news released by the Peking University News Network on November 11, Xie Xiaoliang, academician of the National Academy of Sciences, academician of the National Academy of Medicine, academician of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was recently hired as the director of the Department of Science of Peking University.
Hao Ping issued a letter of appointment to Xie Xiaoliang. Peking University official website photo
On November 6, Peking University held an appointment ceremony. Hao Ping, President of Peking University, Chai Zhen, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Director of the Organization Department, Rao Yi, Former Director of the Department of Science and President of Capital Medical University, Xie Xiaoliang, and relevant responsible persons of the Department of Science, the Department of Science, and the Office of Discipline Construction attended the appointment ceremony.
Founded in 1999, the Faculty of Science of Peking University is now composed of eight faculties: Mathematical Sciences, Physics, Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Life Sciences, Urban and Environmental Sciences, Earth and Space Sciences, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Xie Xiaoliang is replaced by Rao Yi, a chair professor of biology at Peking University and a neurobiologist. Previously, on June 25, Capital Medical University held a meeting of cadres to announce the appointment of Rao Yi as the new president of the university.
At the appointment ceremony held on November 6, Hao Ping thanked Rao Yi for his contribution on behalf of the school, welcomed Xie Xiaoliang as the director of the Department of Science, and hoped that he would contribute wisdom and strength to the school's "double first-class" construction on the new platform.
Hao Ping hopes that the Faculty of Science will continue to exert efforts and make greater achievements in three aspects: First, it is necessary to continue to promote reform, to face the world's scientific and technological frontiers and national strategies, to focus on major scientific research, and to promote the implementation of major projects; second, to give full play to the role of the Faculty of Science as a platform, to conscientiously collect and study the problems and difficulties encountered in the development of various faculties, to do a good job in the communication bridge between schools and faculties, and to serve and assist the college in handling major events; the third is to focus on the construction of "double first-class", do a good job in discipline strategic planning, and clarify future development goals. Integrate resources through reform and achieve major breakthroughs.
Rao Yi reviewed the relevant work during his tenure and briefly summarized the development of various faculties and departments in the Faculty of Science in the past three years. He believes that in the past few years, the school's science discipline has developed rapidly, but there is also room for improvement, and he hopes that the faculty will further play its academic function, promote the intersection and integration of disciplines, especially the cross-integration with medicine, and make greater contributions to the development of school disciplines.
Xie Xiaoliang said that the strength of all disciplines in the Faculty of Science of Peking University is strong and is an ideal place for interdisciplinary interdisciplinarity. He recalled that when he studied at the School of Chemistry of Peking University, he often audited the courses of the Department of Physics and the Department of Mathematics, and later studied biology and medicine, and thought that he had benefited a lot. He said that he would not fail to live up to the trust of the school, work closely with the faculties of the Faculty of Science, do a good job in the layout and planning of disciplines, further increase the introduction of international leading talents, and promote the interdisciplinary and integration of disciplines.
The 57-year-old Xie Xiaoliang officially returned to his alma mater, Peking University, to teach full-time in July 2018, and in addition to his position as director of the Department of Science of Peking University, he is also a Chair Professor of Li Shau Kee of Peking University, the director of the Biomedical Frontier Innovation Center (formerly the Biopic Center for Biodynamic Optical Imaging of Peking University), and the director of the Center for Advanced Innovation in Future Genetic Diagnostics.
Xie Xiaoliang was admitted to the Department of Chemistry of Peking University in 1980 and went to the University of California, San Diego in 1985 to pursue a doctorate under Professor John Simon. After graduating with a Ph.D., he entered the laboratory of Graham Fleming, a prominent professor of physical chemistry at the University of Chicago, as a short postdoc.
Seven years after coming to the United States, in 1992, at the age of 30, Xie Xiaoliang joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as the first scientist from Chinese mainland and formed his own independent experimental team. In 1998, at the age of 36, Xie Xiaoliang was hired as a tenured professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, which was also the first tenured professor from Chinese mainland after the reform and opening up. In 2009, Harvard named him Mallinckrodt Chair Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.
During his 33 years in the United States, Xie Xiaoliang has long paid attention to and participated in the scientific development of China.
In 2001, Xie Xiaoliang was appointed as a visiting professor by the School of Chemistry of Peking University, and in 2009, Peking University hired him as a "Yangtze River Scholar" chair professor. Subsequently, together with Su Xiaodong and Huang Yanyi, he proposed to Peking University to build a Biodynamic Optical Imaging Center (BIOPIC) of Peking University. The proposal was strongly supported by Peking University, and BIOPIC was officially established in December 2010 and is now renamed as the Biomedical Frontier Innovation Center. In 2017, Xie Xiaoliang was elected as a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.