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Dr. Yisu Zhou, a scholar of comparative education, educational policy, and institutional innovation, has been named Professor of of Public Policy and Sociology and China Director of the Institute for Global Higher Education (IGHE) at Duke Kunshan University (DKU) effective August 1, 2025.
Dr. Zhou brings to DKU nearly two decades of cross-disciplinary experience spanning program leadership, governance, and policy research in higher education systems across China and the United States. He most recently served as Associate Professor and Director of the Doctor of Education (EdD) program at the University of Macau, where he designed and launched the faculty’s first executive doctoral program. Under his leadership, the program quickly became one of the university’s most competitive, attracting high-performing education leaders and fostering practitioner-scholar innovation.
Dr. Zhou’s academic work explores how emerging universities can craft locally meaningful and globally engaged models of education. His research spans educational inequality, school reform, vocational training, and institutional change. His current book project, which examines the role of graduate education within China’s science and technology ecosystem, focuses on five institutes within the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“Dr. Zhou’s extensive expertise will drive educational innovation, enrich our undergraduate programs, promote education think tank building, and elevate our academic standards,” said Dr. Yaolin Liu, Chancellor at DKU. “Together with Noah Pickus, the Founding Director of IGHE, Dr. Zhou will help lead the Institute to become a dynamic platform for global collaboration, further expanding DKU’s international visibility.”
Dr. Zhou’s interest in DKU was shaped by years of research on China’s “internationalization at home” initiatives. “Over the past two years, while mentoring a PhD student studying institutions like DKU, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for how these universities blend international approaches with Chinese educational traditions,” Dr. Zhou said. “Rather than viewing DKU as simply a unique anomaly, I’ve come to see it as part of what Dr. Noah Pickus calls the ‘global university’ movement. The opportunity to not only study but actively participate in this educational frontier became an irresistible invitation.”
“I look forward to adding Dr. Zhou’s leadership to our collective strength as we continue to bridge educational innovation between China and the world,” said Dr. John Quelch, Executive Vice Chancellor and American President of DKU.
At IGHE, Dr. Zhou plans to focus on contextualizing liberal arts traditions within China’s educational heritage. “China has centuries of educational heritage that still resonates today, alongside a complex history of engaging with international educational philosophies,” he said. He also intends to strengthen engagement with domestic stakeholders and further explore what makes DKU’s pedagogical approaches distinctive. “I’m eager to explore what makes these innovations unique, assess what students genuinely gain from their DKU education, and investigate how we might leverage these insights across different colleges—perhaps even to inform our partners across the Pacific.”
The search committee reviewed applications from tenured faculty and academic leaders from China, the US and around the world. These applicants included tenured faculty from top ranked universities, academic leaders at joint-venture universities, and directors of higher education research centers. “The search committee felt that Dr. Zhou’s research, background, experience, and leadership style all make for an ideal fit at DKU,” said Pickus. A student who met with Professor Zhou praised his “student-centered pedagogical approach and enthusiasm about implementing innovative teaching practices in environments with flexible teaching structures.”
Born in a family of scholars, Dr. Zhou earned his Ph.D. in Education Policy from Michigan State University, he has also held visiting roles at institutions such as the University of Chicago and has authored over 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. His work has been recognized with honors from the Comparative and International Education Society and the University of Macau. VCAA Scott MacEachern commented on Dr. Zhou’s “ strong background in the two areas DKU needs: knowledge of the China higher ed landscape, and a real understanding of international issues in higher education.”
Dr. Zhou’s leadership philosophy is shaped by formative experiences that challenged conventional academic paths. “A pivotal moment came when I deviated from the traditional academic path of ‘publish, get tenure, publish more’ to ask myself what I truly wanted from my career,” he said. This led to three years of translating major sociological texts, work that transformed his intellectual outlook. Earlier, he also spent a year teaching in a rural school in China, where he came to see leadership as a socially embedded and adaptive process. “These experiences taught me to be resourceful, to recognize how institutions are embedded within their communities, and most importantly, to connect with people whose backgrounds and perspectives differ drastically from my own.”
Looking ahead, Dr. Zhou sees his appointment at DKU as an opportunity to engage directly in a bold experiment in education, collaborating with colleagues and students to shape the future of higher learning in China and globally
Email: ighe@dukekunshan.edu.cn
