New York, 12 November 2004 – The Elsevier Foundation is pleased to congratulate Professor Zheng Li for becoming the first appointee to the Elsevier Science and Technology University Professorship. This university chair is the first professorial appointment at a university in China, and the first endowment of its kind for The Elsevier Foundation.

Professor Zheng is a distinguished researcher and scholar who began his career at   Tsinghua University, in Beijing, earning his bachelor degree in manufacturing engineering in 1981. He finished first in his class of 90 other students in the university’s Department of Precision Instruments.

Prof. Zheng stayed on to earn his PhD from Tsinghua and in 1998, after completing his degree, he was appointed Director of the Institute of Manufacturing, where he headed a staff of over 70 full time faculty. He has done extensive research on information-driven manufacturing and production planning, and scheduling systems. His work has led to the direct development of several models to increase operational efficiency in manufacturing, methods which are widely practiced throughout China.

The author of over 100 scientific and technical papers, Prof. Zheng received the Chinese National Invention Award in 1989 for his creative research in the area of diagnosis of manufacturing processes. Over the past three years, he has lectured on his work all over the world and frequently visits newly developing areas throughout China.  

“Professor Zheng is an outstanding administrator and an exemplary collaborator of international science and technology-based research,” said Professor Gavriel Salvendy, of Purdue University, Professor and Head of Industrial Engineering at Tsinghua.

Prof. Zheng received the news of his appointment with great enthusiasm and is eager to begin developing cooperation between international scientists and researches at the university. Already known for distinguished excellence in engineering and applied science, Tsinghua aspires to become one of the leading international academic institutions and currently has more academic papers registered with top scientific journals than any other university in China.

“We were delighted to hear the news of Prof. Zheng’s appointment,” said John Regazzi, Chairman of The Elsevier Foundation. “He is an excellent ambassador in helping the Foundation realize its goal of facilitating the global exchange of scientific information and educational resources. We welcome him to this new post and wish him every success."

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