Professor Chien-Pin Chen, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, has been appointed as the first Tang Junyuan Chair Professor at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). The appointment ceremony was held at SJTU Xuhui Campus on April 21.
Yingnian Tang and Jiang Sixian jointly issued the certificate of appointment to Chien-Pin Chen
In his acceptance speech, Chen said he was deeply honored and sensed a greater responsibility. As Tang Junyuan Chair Professor as well as the University of Michigan-SJTU Joint Institute’s (UM-SJTU JI) Associate Dean for the Academic Affairs, he promised to support JI’s faculty, administrators and other stakeholders to better prepare our students for the future. He will focus on creating the best conditions in which the faculty members teach and conduct research, key administrators lead and students learn. He intends to turn JI’s best practice into a norm to attract the world’s top talents and students.
Chen pointed out SJTU’s goal is to foster students’ lofty ideals and academic interests, and JI students aspire to serve China with global visions. The key to achieving these ambitions is that JI provides high-quality teaching, cutting edge research and excellent leadership so that our graduates are well-rounded, curious, creative problem-solvers, sought after at home and abroad. This is the mission of JI’s international education.
Yingnian Tang, Chairman of the Shanghai Tang Junyuan Education Foundation, congratulated Chen warmly. He regarded Professor Chen as a very suitable candidate based on his diversified and rich experiences in teaching, research and management both in China and in the U.S.A. As an alumnus of the University of Michigan, Tang has confidence in the future development of JI. He believes that the appointment of the chair will provide strong support for raising the level of JI’s faculty and academic environment.
SJTU Party Secretary Jiang Sixian thanked Mr. Tang and the Tang family for setting up “Tang Junyuan Chair Professorship” at SJTU and giving the first professorship to JI. The appointment will play a vital role in promoting the recruitment of more world-class professors to JI and SJTU.
An introduction of Chen:
Professor Chen joined JI in May 2014 and has served as Associate Dean for the Graduate Study, a member of the APG and currently, Associate Dean for the Academic Affairs. He has played an important role in JI’s construction and development.
Professor Chen’s research interests include multiphase flow, spray combustion, turbulence models, computational fluid dynamics, cutting edge biochip and aerodynamic optics. His professional memberships include ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Fellow, Honorary Fellow of the Australian Society of High Energy Materials, AIAA (The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) Associate Fellow, Senior Member of American Institute of Chemical Engineering (AIChE), member of AIChE International Education Committee, ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) Program Evaluator.
Chen has won NASA Technical Innovator Awards, AIAA Outstanding Young Aerospace Engineer of the Year award, NASA Group Achievement Award and National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council resident research award. He has served as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation and other projects, branch chairman of a number of international conferences and editorial board member of many internationally renowned journals.
Professor Chen earned a doctoral degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University in December 1983 and a bachelor of science in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University in June 1978. Before joining JI, he served as Chairman and professor at the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA.
