(CHEN JIANLI)

Xu Xianming, President of Shandong University, gained public attention when he withdrew from the academic committee of the university.

Xu says his withdrawal shows the determination to remove administrative power from the academic field. Before Xu, presidents of several other universities did the same thing, leaving decision-making power in academic affairs to professors and experts.

"Academic committees should be an important channel for the expression of academics. In China's higher education, administrative forces have replaced and interfered in academic power to a certain extent. I hope my withdrawal can promote the separation between administrative forces and academic power," said Xu.

Xu, 54, graduated with a master's degree in laws in 1985 and then became a teacher in the Law Department of Shandong University in June 1985 and a professor there in 1993. He was president of China University of Political Science and Law from 2001 to 2008 and was appointed president of Shandong University in November 2008.