Outstanding scholars join UM

The University of Macau (UM) has continuously recruited outstanding scholars through global recruitment to enhance its academic standing and disciplinary design. In the 2023/2024 academic year, UM recruited over 80 academic elites from different backgrounds, all of whom are prominent figures in their respective fields with international academic excellence and teaching and research capabilities. The new faculty members include internationally renowned experts and scholars, as well as outstanding young scholars from Macao, mainland China, and overseas. Many of them are graduates of the world’s top universities or have accumulated a wealth of teaching and research experience in leading educational institutions, and have been highly regarded by the academic community and industry.

Yu Jun
Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration
Chair Professor in the Department of Finance and Business Economics
University of Macau Development Foundation Chair Professor of Finance and Economics
Prof Yu Jun is an internationally renowned expert in financial econometrics. His research areas mainly include asset pricing and financial econometrics. He has published nearly 100 papers in top-tier international journals and was named as a Changjiang Scholar Chair Professor by the Ministry of Education of China in 2016. Prof Yu obtained his PhD from the University of Western Ontario in Canada and has approximately 25 years of teaching and research experience in higher education. Prior to joining UM, he held the position of Lee Kong Chian Professor of Economics and Finance at Singapore Management University. He served at Singapore Management University for nearly 20 years, during which he held various leadership roles, including co-director of the Centre for Financial Econometrics, and director of Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics. From 2015 to 2020, he led a major research project (Tier-3 Grant) funded by the Singapore government as the principal investigator, focusing on the economic challenges of aging. One of his notable achievements is the invention of a ground-breaking method for real-time detection of asset bubbles, which has been adopted by many governments. Prof Yu is the inaugural fellow of the Society for Financial Econometrics, and is an associate editor for two prestigious international journals: Journal of Econometrics and Econometric Theory. Currently, Prof Yu is the Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration and Chair Professor in Finance and Business Economics at UM. He is also appointed as the University of Macau Development Foundation Chair Professor of Finance and Economics. Prof Yu looks forward to leading UM’s Faculty of Business Administration to reach new heights in research, teaching, and community engagement.

Zhang Wenyang
Chair Professor in the Department of Accounting and Information Management
Faculty of Business Administration
Prof Zhang Wenyang is a renowned scholar in statistics. His research interests include big data analysis, financial data analysis, nonparametric modelling, time series analysis, and spatial data analysis. He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Sichuan University, and his PhD in statistics from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Prof Zhang currently serves as the associate editor of the Annals of Statistics and the Journal of the American Statistical Association, two of the three most prestigious journals in the field of statistics. He is also an associate editor of the Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, an internationally leading journal in business and economic statistics. He was a member of the Research Section Committee of the Royal Statistical Society of the UK, the third Chinese to serve on the committee in the history of the society. Before joining UM, Prof Zhang has served at the University of York and the University of Bath in the UK for more than 20 years and gained extensive teaching and research experience. Prof Zhang is currently a chair professor in the Department of Accounting and Information Management of UM’s Faculty of Business Administration. He looks forward to making UM’s programmes in business intelligence and data analytics a world-class discipline with a high reputation in academia, industry, business sector, and government.

Wong Ip Kin
Professor in the Department of Integrated Resort and Tourism Management
Faculty of Business Administration
Prof Wong Ip Kin received his master in business administration and PhD in communication and Information Sciences from the University of Hawaii in the US. He taught in the School of Tourism Management at Sun Yat-sen University before joining UM and is a leading scholar in the Thousand Talents Program. His teaching and research cover a wide range of fields, with a particular focus on smart tourism, big data analytics, service marketing, and consumer behaviour. Prof Wong has published more than 150 SSCI-indexed articles in international journals and has received many grants and awards, including the National Natural Science Fund and the Emerald Literati Highly Commended Paper Award. He is one of the top two per cent of scientists in the world and one of the top 100,000 researchers in the field of business management. He is also a member of the editorial board of several international journals, including the Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management, Journal of Business Research, and International Journal of Hospitality Management. Prof Wong is currently a professor in the Department of Integrated Resort and Tourism Management of UM’s Faculty of Business Administration. He is committed to developing the university into one of the world’s leading higher education institutions in the field of tourism management.

Li Jun
Chair Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Head of the Department of Arts and Design
Prof Li Jun is an internationally renowned scholar in Renaissance art and transcultural art history, specialising in aesthetics and art history. He is a graduate of the Beijing Broadcasting College (now Communication University of China) and Peking University. He has taught at the Central Academy of Fine Arts for more than 30 years and held the position of dean of its School of Humanities. Prof Li has carried out research at internationally leading institutions such as l’Université de Paris I, Harvard University, and the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. He also holds many important academic positions, including deputy director of the Academic Committee of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, member of the Art History and Theory Discipline Evaluation Group of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, and member of the Art Studies Group of the Department of National Textbook. He has received many awards for his books and articles, including a first prize for the Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Humanities and Social Sciences). Prof Li is currently the head of the Department of Arts and Design and chair professor in UM’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities. He looks forward to nurturing top-notch artistic and creative talent through the lens of liberal arts that blends ancient and modern, Chinese and Western cultures, and exploring ways of art creation that are in line with Macao’s history and culture. He also envisions transforming UM’s Department of Arts and Design into an environment conducive to both academic pursuits and artistic creation.

Zhang Jian
Chair Professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Prof Zhang Jian is an internationally acclaimed litterateur, who specialises in classical Chinese literature, particularly Chinese literary criticism. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from Anhui Normal University and his master’s and PhD degrees from Peking University. Prof Zhang taught in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University for 14 years before joining the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2006, where he held the position of vice chairman of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature. Prof Zhang has received many awards and honours both in China and abroad, including the National Excellent Book Award from the Publishers Association of China, Program for New Century Excellent Talents in Universities of the Ministry of Education and the Outstanding Achievements in Scientific Research in Higher Education (Humanities and Social Sciences) from the Ministry of Education and the Beijing Municipal Government. He was also selected for the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University by the Ministry of Education. In addition, he is an editor or advisor to several international journals and academic associations. Prof Zhang is currently a chair professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of UM’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities. He is committed to promoting the development and academic progress of the Chinese discipline.

Gui Changfeng
Chair Professor in the Faculty of Science and Technology
Head of the Department of Mathematics
University of Macau Development Foundation Professorial Fellow of Mathematics
Prof Gui Changfeng is an internationally renowned mathematician. His main research interests are nonlinear partial differential equations and applied mathematics, and image analysis and processing. He has solved many of the world’s most challenging mathematical problems and has published more than 100 articles in top international journals. Prof Gui received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Peking University and his PhD from the University of Minnesota in the US. Before joining UM, Prof Gui taught at several universities in Canada, the US, and China, where he gained extensive teaching and research experience. He has received many awards and honours both in China and abroad, including the PIMS Research Prize of the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, André Aisenstadt Prize in Mathematics from the Centre de Recherches Mathématiques, Best Paper Award from the IEEE Signal Processing Society, and the Overseas Cooperation Fund from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. In 2006, he was elected Changjiang Scholar Chair Professor by the Ministry of Education. Prof Gui is currently the head of the Department of Mathematics and a chair professor in UM’s Faculty of Science and Technology. He is also appointed as the University of Macau Development Foundation Professorial Fellow of Mathematics. He looks forward to leading UM’s Department of Mathematics to reach new heights in research and teaching. 

Pan Wei
Chair Professor in the Department of Government and Public Administration
Faculty of Social Sciences
Prof Pan Wei obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international politics from Peking University, and his PhD in politics from the University of California, Berkeley. Before joining UM, he held a professorship in the School of International Studies at Peking University. His teaching and research areas mainly include comparative politics, regime and society in China, ethnic politics in contemporary China, and international politics theories and practice. Prof Pan is the author of Farmers and Markets, Contemporary Chinese Regime, Theory and Methods of Comparative Politics, and Faith in the People. He is also a vice president of the Chinese Federation of Ethno-National Research Organizations, as well as an executive member of the Chinese Society of World Politics Studies, China Foundation for Peace and Development, and China Institute of the Theory of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Currently, Prof Pan is a chair professor in the Department of Government and Public Administration of UM’s Faculty of Social Sciences. He is focusing on expounding on the unified driving force behind domestic politics, international politics, and language-cultural politics, thereby constructing a new historical perspective and a new foundation for political science theory.

Sun Handong
Distinguished Professor at the Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering
Prof Sun Handong is a renowned scholar in optical physics and optoelectronic materials and devices. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in physics from the Dalian University of Technology, master’s degree in optoelectronics from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and PhD in physics from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Before joining UM, Prof Sun taught at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His research covers a wide range of areas, such as nanolasers, nonlinear optics, ultrafast spectroscopy, semiconductor quantum dots, and nanostructures. He has published more than 200 articles in international journals and has also received many international awards and honours, including the fellowship of the American Physical Society and Optica (formerly known as the Optical Society of America). Prof Sun is currently a Distinguished Professor at the Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering. He will continue to work on basic research on light-matter interactions and explore the relevant applications in optoelectronic integration and flexible devices.

Francisco José Leandro
Associate Professor in the Department of Government and Public Administration
Faculty of Social Sciences
Prof Francisco José Leandro obtained his PhD in political science and international relations from the Catholic University of Portugal and his habilitation diploma in international studies from ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon. Before joining UM, he held the position of associate dean of the Institute for Research on Portuguese-speaking Countries at the City University of Macau. His research interests include geopolitics, China (Belt and Road Initiative), and Portuguese-speaking countries. Prof Leandro has published 14 books, including the co-edition of The Geopolitics of Iran and The Palgrave Handbook of Globalization with Chinese Characteristics. He is also a member of OBSERVARE (Observatory of Foreign Relations), a centre for international relations studies at the Autonomous University of Lisbon, Portugal. Prof Leandro is currently an associate professor in the Department of Government and Public Administration of UM’s Faculty of Social Sciences. He is committed to developing academic studies on China-Portuguese-speaking Countries relations.

Michiel Spapé
Associate Professor at the Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Institute of Collaborative Innovation
Prof Michiel Spapé received his PhD in psychology from Leiden University in the Netherlands and has subsequently studied the brain and mind at the University of Nottingham in the UK, the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology in Finland, Liverpool Hope University in the UK, and the University of Helsinki in Finland. He has authored or co-authored 65 peer-reviewed articles, two textbooks, and one patent. Prof Spapé is also an associate editor of Psychological Research and Frontiers in Psychology: Cognition. His current focus in cognitive neuroscience is on developing a device capable of visualising consciousness by interfacing neural activity with modern generative artificial intelligence. Prof Spapé is currently an associate professor at the Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences at UM’s Institute of Collaborative Innovation. His vision is for UM and its Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences to become a globally recognised institute for innovative, collaborative research on consciousness and cognition.

Benjamin Winokur
Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Prof Benjamin Winokur obtained his PhD from York University, where he cultivated his research expertise in contemporary Western epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of language. Before joining UM, he was a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Ashoka University in India. The courses he teaches cover a wide range of topics beyond his research areas, including environmental ethics, the philosophy of artificial intelligence, and philosophical methodology. He currently has 11 peer-reviewed publications and has published articles in academic journals, such as Synthese and European Journal of Philosophy. Prof Winokur is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of UM’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities. He aims to cultivate a reflective, critical, and humble attitude in his students in the philosophical classroom while maintaining a research program focusing on his various philosophical passions.

Ho Ieong Cheng
Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education
Dr Ho Ieong Cheng obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School in the US, and her master’s and doctorate of education in music and music education from Columbia University in the US. She has held teaching and research positions at Columbia University and served as the senior district manager of music and performing arts of the District of Columbia Public Schools Central Services in the US. Dr Ho has won many music competitions and performed throughout the world as a soloist and recitalist. She was awarded the Enid & Lester Morse Scholarship by Columbia University and is actively involved in music research, with a particular focus on creative music education, contemporary music, and community music. She was an honoree of the Washington Performing Arts 2022 Gala in recognition of her outstanding achievements in music education. Dr Ho is currently an assistant professor in UM’s Faculty of Education. She is keen to promote international research in music education at the university, as well as to promote Macao music and provide students with abundant networking opportunities in the field of music.

Hou Jiajie
Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr Hou Jiajie was jointly trained by the Department of Surgery of Nanjing Medical University and the Ben May Department for Cancer Research of the University of Chicago in the US during his doctoral studies. He was elected for the Hundred Talent Program. He is involved in the multidisciplinary treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, focusing on immunobiology and immunotherapy of liver tumours. He has published papers in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, Journal of Hepatology, Hepatology, and other leading journals as the first or corresponding author. Four of his research projects received grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and one from the Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar of Guangdong Province. He has also served as a reviewer for many NSFC projects. Dr Hou is currently an assistant professor in UM’s Faculty of Health Sciences. He looks forward to using his research and clinical experience to contribute to medical science in Macao.

Lyu Hanyue
Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law
Researcher at the Asia-Pacific Academy of Economics and Management
Prof Lyu obtained his PhD in law from Tsinghua University and his master’s degrees in law from Peking University and the University of Tübingen in Germany. He was a research assistant professor at the Peking University Law School, where he taught courses on the frontiers of criminal law and foreign criminal law. He was also an editor of the Tsinghua China Law Review and for many years guided the criminal law reading club for law students at Tsinghua University. Prof Lyu’s research interests include fundamental concepts in criminal law and the influence of post-modern technology on criminal law theory. He has published many articles in CLSCI journals and presented many papers in German and English at international conferences. Prof Lyu is currently an assistant professor in UM’s Faculty of Law and a research fellow in smart tourism at the Asia-Pacific Academy of Economics and Management. He is committed to telling the story of the rule of law in China through Chinese and global narratives.

He Xiaoxi
Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Faculty of Science and Technology
Dr He Xiaoxi obtained his master’s and doctoral degrees from ETH Zürich in Switzerland, and his bachelor’s degree from Leibniz Universität Hannover in Germany. He was admitted to the School of the Gifted Young at the University of Science and Technology of China at the age of 14 for research training. His research interests include on-device machine learning, which aims to integrate artificial intelligence into mobile and embedded devices. He is also involved in research projects on the practical applications of modern deep learning systems in health promotion, environmental sustainability, and smart city. Dr He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of UM’s Faculty of Science and Technology. He is committed to developing a methodology based on feasibility, sustainability, and adaptability for resource-aware machine learning systems.

Hong Ze
Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology
Faculty of Social Sciences
Dr Hong Ze obtained his PhD in human evolutionary biology from Harvard University and taught in the Department of Sociology at Zhejiang University. He engages in research on understanding human behaviour and culture from evolutionary and cognitive perspectives, and his research results have been published in leading journals in the fields of anthropology and cognitive science, including Current Anthropology, American Anthropologist, Behavior and Brain Sciences, and Cognitive Science. He is also an editor of Human Nature, a journal in the field of anthropology. Dr Hong is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology of UM’s Faculty of Social Sciences. He is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of human behaviour and culture using methods and approaches from psychology, anthropology, biology, and history.

Deng Shanglyu
Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics
Faculty of Social Sciences
Dr Deng Shanglyu obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance from Peking University, and his PhD in economics from the University of Maryland. His research interests include applied microeconomic theory and industrial organisation. He is now working on research about auction theory and market design, competition theory, and dynamic competition and market structure. He has published papers in the Journal of Economic Theory, Theoretical Economics, Journal of Mathematical Economics, and Economics Letters. Dr Deng is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Economics of UM’s Faculty of Social Sciences. He looks forward to conducting high-quality research by leveraging UM’s exceptional academic resources.

UM has welcomed more than 80 new faculty members this academic year. They have joined various faculties, centres, and institutes at the university.

These outstanding scholars will enhance the quality of teaching and research at UM and nurture more talent with a global mindset and social responsibility. The university will continue to recruit and cultivate high-calibre faculty and researchers who will contribute to the development of Macao, the country, and the world.