University Leadership

Professor Xie Xincheng

President of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC)

Professor Xie Xincheng is a distinguished Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), as well as a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is Chair Professor at Peking University and the Director of the Institute for Nanoelectronic Devices and Quantum Computing at Fudan University.

Professor Xie completed his undergraduate studies in physics at the University of Science and Technology of China in 1982 and went on to obtain his PhD from the University of Maryland in 1988. He was the Regents Professor of Oklahoma State University. Professor Xie directed the International Center for Quantum Structures at the CAS and led the Laboratory of Condensed Matter Theory and Computation at the Institute of Physics, CAS. He was the Founding Director of the International Center for Quantum Materials and served as the Dean of the School of Physics at Peking University. He assumed the role of Divisional Director of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in 2016, and Vice President of NSFC in 2018.

Professor Xie's research in condensed matter physics has covered topics like the Quantum Hall effect, charge and spin transport, quantum systems, and strongly correlated electron systems. He has held editorial positions with "Physical Review Letters" and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of "SCIENCE CHINA Physics-Mechanics & Astronomy”, in addition to serving on the editorial boards of several significant international academic journals.

Professor Shearer West

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham

Professor Shearer West is the seventh Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Nottingham, taking up office on 2 October 2017.

Professor West is a Professor of Art History and has held a number of significant leadership roles in universities and higher education. She obtained her B.A. degree in Art History and English at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and her Ph.D. in Art History at St. Andrews.

Find out more about Professor Shearer West's career and the role of the Vice-Chancellor.

Xu Yafen

Chair of UNNC Board and Chair of Zhejiang Wanli University 

Xu Yafen became a party member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1981 and is a representative of the eleventh CPC Congress of Zhejiang Province and a member of Zhejiang CPPCC Committee. She holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Dundee and is a visiting professor of Tsinghua University, as well as a research fellow of the Human Science Institute of Management Science Academy of China. 

Wanli Education Group, which she founded, has a national reputation for academic excellence and Xu has made a considerable contributions to educational reform in China. She has published many papers on psychology, behavior science, management, education and other fields in national and provincial academic journals and other publications.

Professor Jon Garibaldi

Provost and Pro-Vice Chancellor

Jon Garibaldi is the current Provost of University of Nottingham Ningbo China, having taken up office on 1 Jan 2024.

Professor Garibaldi joined the School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham UK in 2002. He started his professional career working in the software industry for approximately seven years, after having completed an initial degree in Physics at the University of Bristol UK. He returned to academia to complete an MSc and then PhD in 'Artificial Intelligence' at the University of Plymouth UK, before his first permanent academic position at De Montfort University UK. He became the Head of School of Computer Science in Jan 2016, leading the School through significant growth from around 670 students in 2015/16 to over 1500 in 2023/24.

Professor Garibaldi's main research interest is in developing intelligent computational techniques to model human reasoning in uncertain environments, with a particular emphasis on the medical domain. He also has interests in data analysis, particularly of complex and uncertain data, data mining, clustering and classification, and in the deployment of decision support systems in practical real-world applications. Over his career, he has been Principal Investigator on research projects worth over £3.5m (~30m RMB), and Co-Investigator on a multi-disciplinary portfolio of grants worth over £82m (~750m RMB). He has published over 400 academic research papers, including around 200 journal papers. He was Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems from 2017-2022, is active in the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, and is a Fellow of the IEEE. He has a track-record of research collaborations with colleagues in many institutions across China, and has held Visiting Professor positions at Shenzhen University and University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei.

Professor Shen Weiqi

Party Secretary of UNNC

Professor Shen Weiqi serves as an expert on Sino-foreign education evaluation at the Chinese Ministry of Education, is a member of the sixth board of the National Review Committee on Setting up Higher Education Institutions, and a member of the Commission on Chinese-foreign Cooperation in Education (CEAIE). 

He has published more than 50 papers in national and international academic journals - his primary research areas are plant nutrition and flowering physiology.

Professor Shen has been honoured for the quality of both his teaching and research by municipal and provincial authorities. 

Professor Giampaolo Buticchi

Interim Vice Provost for Research and Knowledge Exchange

Prof. Giampaolo Buticchi joined the University of Nottingham Ningbo China in 2017. He held several roles within the Faculty of Science and Engineering, the latest being the Associate Dean for Research and Knowledge Exchange. During his term he played a crucial role in leading the faculty strategy for research and knowledge exchange and in creating a better ecosystem that enables high quality R&D activities. Prior to joining UNNC, he worked as Research Fellow at the University of Parma, Italy, and as Chief Engineer and Guest Professor at the University of Kiel, Germany.

As Professor in Electrical Engineering, Giampaolo Buticchi’s research focuses on power electronics for renewable energy systems, smart transformer fed micro-grids and grids for the More Electric Aircraft. He is author/co-author of more than 300 international peer-reviewed papers in the reference journals and conferences for power electronics. Prof. Buticchi is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions of Industrial Electronics and the past Chair of the Technical Committee on Renewable Energy Sources of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society; he is also an elected Administrative Committee (AdCom) member of the same society. He received several national and international prizes, including the Von Humboldt Fellowship for postdoctoral researchers and three IEEE Journal Best Paper Awards. He is named in the world’s top 2% of scientists list by the Stanford-Elsevier report for 2021 and 2022, he is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Professor Alain Chong

Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Partnerships

Professor Alain Chong is Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Partnerships and Professor of Information Systems at Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) China. He joined the University of Nottingham Ningbo China in 2012 and served as Dean of the Graduate School for more than 6 years before assuming his current position. Prior to joining NUBS, he worked as a software engineer, postdoctoral researcher and Associate Professor of Computer Science in the UK, Malaysia and Hong Kong. His research interests include technology-driven disruptions such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data, and live streaming, as well as design and adoption issues related to e-commerce, mobile commerce, and SCM systems.

Professor Chong has received numerous awards and recognition for his contributions to the field of information systems. He was awarded the Ten Outstanding Young Malaysian Award in 2012 by the Junior Chamber International, the Ningbo Camellia Award in 2020, and the Zhejiang Westlake Award in 2023 for his contributions to Ningbo City and Zhejiang Province. He has also been named as one of the most cited Chinese researchers by the Elsevier Scopus database for eight consecutive years from 2015 to 2023, and was selected as one of the "World's Top 2% Scientists" by Stanford University in 2022. He is one of the top 50 information systems scientists in the world in the career database, and the only two scientists from China to be included. He is also a recipient of the Ningbo 3315 Individual Talent Scheme and the 2022 NSFC International Excellent Young Scientists. He has held visiting research positions at Nanyang Technological University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Greenwich University, and is an Adjunct Professor at Monash University, Taylor's University Malaysia, Honorary Professor at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics.

Dr Hongbo (Jenny) Dong

Deputy Party Secretary 

Hongbo (Jenny) Dong was previously Dean of Innovation Entrepreneur College, Zhejiang Wanli Unveristy (ZWU), Party Secretary of Ningbo Mechanical Industry School, and the branch secretary of the Party in ZWU.  

She obtained an Ed.D (doctorate in education) degree in Durham University, UK, in 2014. The focus of her doctoral project was to explore the Chinese staff’s intercultural experiences with their culturally different colleagues at UNNC.

After completing the Ed.D, she opened two courses (Intercultural Communication and Intercultural Ability Training) for the international students in ZWU and Chinese students in Innovation College respectively.

She is familiar with the educational systems and practices in higher institutions in both China and UK, and specialized in Party and Student affairs. Meanwhile, she has received several honorary titles in municipal and provincial levels, and has published many articles in the Chinese media on topics of education and student management.

Dr Gang Dong

Deputy Party Secretary

Dr Gang Dong is Deputy Party Secretary of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China.

Dr Dong obtained a Doctor’s degree in History from Zhejiang University in 2004. Before joining UNNC, he was Vice President of Ningbo Childhood Education College. His previous posts also include Director of Strategy and Regulation Department and Director of Higher Education Department of Ningbo Education Bureau, and Vice President of Ningbo Education College. He is Member of the 13th Zhejiang Provincial Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Dr Dong has expertise in laws, regulations and policies of higher education, has many years of managerial experience in teaching and learning, international exchange and cooperation, student recruitment, executive training and so on. He has also been conducting research on education regulation and policies, building high-level universities, talent cultivation and university staffing. In recent years Dr Dong has led nearly 10 research projects at or above municipal level, and published a number of papers in core journals including " Research in Educational Development" and "Chinese University Science and Technology".

Professor Tao Wu

Dean of Faculty of Science and Engineering

Professor Tao Wu is currently the Dean of Faculty of Science and Engineering (FoSE). Prior to taking up current position, he was the Head of Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Associate Dean for Research and Director of Health, Safety and Estate Matters of the FoSE. Professor Wu received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Nottingham UK. He joined the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) in 2007 as a lecturer. He was promoted to an Associate Professor in 2010, an Associate Professor and Reader in 2013, and then a full Professor in 2015.

Professor Tao Wu has over 20 years of R&D experience on the efficient conversion and utilization of fossil fuels/biomass and the development of novel materials for environmental applications. His research programmes cover a wide range from blue-sky research to proof of concept and patent development leading to commercialisation. To date, Professor Wu has completed over 40 research projects funded by various funding bodies and has developed technologies that benefit the society through commercialisation.

As an active researcher, Professor Wu also serves as a committee member on a number of national and regional professional bodies. He is a Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry, is currently leading the Municipal Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Conversion Technologies at UNNC and holds the Director position of University’s New Materials Institute (NMI).

Professor Kok Wei Khong

Dean of Nottingham University Business School China (NUBS China) 

Professor Khong is the Dean of Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) China and a Professor of Marketing Analytics. Before joining NUBS China, Khong was the Executive Dean of one of the top private universities in Southeast Asia. During his four years tenure, he led an unranked business school to the top 100 in the world in the QS World University Rankings by Subject in Business and Management Studies.

Prior to this, Khong was the Associate Dean (Research and Knowledge Exchange) of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and set up the Centre for Interdisciplinary Data Analytics which focuses on business analytics, digital economy and AI technologies. He has more than 20 years of working in academia and conducting research in services marketing, marketing analytics, behavioural science, and text analytics. He has received more than RMB 1.5 million in competitive funding from various funding bodies such as the Malaysia Fundamental Research Grant Scheme, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Funding, the Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education Translational Research Grant Scheme, etc.

Khong has served as a consultant focusing on service quality in one of the largest direct-selling companies in Malaysia. He was also involved in the Radio Audience Measurement project working with one of the leading global market insights and data analytics companies deriving the population proportionate to size stratified sampling. He led a team of researchers at NUBS, working with the capital market learning and development solutions provider of the securities commission, to study the trust of the financial services on the capital markets service providers in Malaysia. 

Professor Catriona Morrison

Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Professor Morrison is the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Prior to joining UNNC in 2024 she held several leadership positions, most recently as Dean of Science at the University of Law, where she instituted the Science School, which delivered programmes in Psychology, Computer Science, Criminology, Policing and Education.

Professor Morrison obtained her MA from the University of Glasgow and DPhil from the University of York, specializing in Psychology. Her research interests are diverse and her publications include topics such as language development, dementia, internet behaviour, and childhood and adult memories.

Professor Morrison is passionate about learning and teaching and is a past Chair of the British Psychological Society’s Education Board. She is a Chartered Psychologist and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society.

James Birkett

Registrar

James joined the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) in February 2023 as the University’s Registrar. James is the University’s principal student administrative services officer with responsibility for providing strategic leadership and management across the University’s student support services, driving the University’s commitment to delivering outstanding academic support services to staff and students.

James has over 20 years’ experience across university student and research administration, planning and governance, communications and organizational change. He has worked at four universities, and joined UNNC from City, University of London where he was latterly the Academic Registrar. Here he had responsibility for leading a large team comprising a range of registry functions, from applicant to graduate, and student services supporting 20,000 students. He was previously the Head of Student Administration at the University of Surrey.  

Thomas Murphy

Chief Financial and Planning Officer

Tom took on the role of Chief Financial and Planning Officer at UNNC in February 2020. In addition to having responsibility for the University’s finances, Tom’s portfolio also includes management and oversight of Human Resources, IT Services, Estates, Procurement, Library, Sports, Business Development, Strategy and Planning Team, Centre for English Language Education and Development and Alumni Relations. Tom is a Chartered Management Accountant and has worked for a number of organisations in both the private and public sectors in the UK in a mix of Finance, HR and Commercial roles.

Prior to joining UNNC, Tom spent eight years working for Deloitte in both London and Shanghai. His main focus at Deloitte was in Finance Transformation where he led projects to resolve a wide range of problems that organisations were facing with their Finance Function. During his time at Deloitte Tom was heavily involved in the development of digital finance techniques and the future of finance. He worked for clients from a wide range of industries including central and local government, retail, luxury brands and telecommunications.

Phoebe Lou

Executive Director of Marketing and Communications

Phoebe Lou joined the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) as Executive Director of Marketing and Communication in Jan 2021. Before joining UNNC, Phoebe was the Brand Director in Retail BP China and has more than 15-year solid experience in marketing and communications. Phoebe will assume direct leadership of the communications, recruitment and marketing teams at UNNC and manage a creative, effective, agile, data-informed organization that delivers field and digital marketing campaigns both domestically and internationally.