Zhou Ji (DING LIN)	Xu Kuangdi (RAO AIMIN)

Zhou Ji, former Minister of Education, was elected president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) on June 11. He replaces Xu Kuangdi.

Zhou, 64, became an academician at the CAE in 1999. He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Zhou spent much of his early career at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, and became its president in 1997. He joined the public service in 1999 as director of the Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology. After serving for a short period as mayor of Wuhan, Zhou was appointed vice minister of education in April 2002 and minister in March 2003. He remained in the ministerial position until October 2009, when he was transferred to the CAE as its deputy Party chief.

Zhou is the second CAE academician to serve as a mayor in China. His predecessor in CAE, Xu, was the first. Xu was mayor of Shanghai from 1995 to 2001.

The 73-year-old Xu is a renowned expert in metallurgy. After graduating from the Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Engineering, he embarked on a 30-year teaching career until 1989. He was admitted to the CAE in 1995 and was elected its president in 2002.

Xu has received two national awards for designing a stainless steel pipe for aerial purposes and improving the quality of steel used in military bearings.

Because of his outstanding professional achievements and international recognition, Xu was elected as foreign member of the British Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

Established as a think tank in 1994, the CAE advises the government and industry on key scientific and technological issues. It now has 751 academician members, including 36 foreigners.