(CHEN HUAHUA)

Zhu Qingshi, President of South University of Science and Technology of China, has attracted attention as a member of the ongoing Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference this March because of his proposal on reforming higher education.

Zhu, 65, former President of University of Science and Technology of China, was appointed president of the newly established South University of Science and Technology of China a year ago.

Zhu was born in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, and graduated from University of Science and Technology of China in 1968. He started research work at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1974 and became a member of the first group in China sent to study abroad in 1979 and returned to China in 1982. He became an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1991. Since 1994, Zhu started teaching and researching at the University of Science and Technology of China and became its president in June 1998. After retiring from the post in September 2008, Zhu was chosen as the president of South University of Science and Technology of China because of his efforts and spirit in improving higher education in China.