Chinese-born professor brings homeland ideas to U.S. education system

Yong Zhao’s first flight to the U.S. became a gateway to an extensive research career in education.

Zhao, a university distinguished professor in the College of Education, left his homeland, China, in 1992 to accept a position at Linfield College in Oregon. Zhao credits the move to Linfield College, where he served as a visiting professor, for cementing his decision to study education.

“They introduced me to a lot more about education than I had read, such as national and international conferences in education and the various disciplines in education. That really attracted me,” said Zhao, 44.

Zhao grew up in a village in China’s Sichuan province, where he lived without electricity. He attended the Sichuan Institute of Foreign Languages in Chongqing, China, and received his bachelor’s degree in English language education in 1986.

His research continues to bridge the gap between the U.S. and China, and several of the initiatives he started in China have impacted the College of Education, said Richard Prawat, chairperson of the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education.

“He’s quite a remarkable person,” Prawat said. “He’s in a leadership role here in the college. Even though he has (grant) money that means he doesn’t have to teach more than one course per semester, he does much more than that because he really enjoys interacting with the students.”

Before he traveled to Oregon and continued his education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Zhao taught at the Sichuan Institute of Foreign Languages for six years. Zhao became a faculty member of MSU’s College of Education in 1996.

College of Education Dean Carole Ames wrote in an e-mail that Zhao’s educational system research in China helps everyone from teachers to policy makers better understand the importance of globalization.

“He has been instrumental in helping teachers, educational leaders, policy makers and graduate students develop global understandings through study trips to China,” Ames said.

Zhao is the founding director of the Center for Teaching and Technology, executive director of the Confucius Institute, executive director of the U.S.-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence and a fellow at the International Academy for Education.