20 New Faculty and 186 Study Away Students Join for Spring Semester

With the arrival of spring and a new semester, 20 new faculty and 186 study away students from New York and Abu Dhabi have joined the NYU Shanghai community.

“Three new tenure track professors in Computer Science, Engineering, and Urban Studies, as well as several senior scholars visiting from New York, and a number of other wonderful short-term and long-term colleagues will be strengthening our faculty ranks this semester,” said Provost Joanna Waley-Cohen. “I am delighted to extend a warm welcome to them all!”

Among the new faculty is Assistant Professor of Computer Science Guo Siyao, who joins NYU Shanghai from Northeastern University and will pursue her research interests in cryptography, computational complexity, and pseudorandomness. Guo will be NYU Shanghai’s first woman tenure track faculty member in Computer Science.  

The majority of new faculty members are specialists in STEM fields ranging from mathematics to computer science and physics. NYU Shanghai is also adding new professors in business and the arts. The University will be welcoming back 17 faculty who have previously visited, including award-winning author Gish Jen, who will be back to teach Topics in Creative Writing: Intermediate Fiction - Story Structure.

From left to right: Lee Sang Bin, Leandro Vendramin Claudio, Yan Dengfeng, and Santiago Juan Saglietti.

Many new faculty are looking forward to incorporating Shanghai into their research. “As the economic center of the world’s largest developing country, Shanghai is always the pioneer to test various types of advanced technologies, particularly in the transportation field,” said Assistant Professor Faculty Fellow of Engineering Chen Zhibin. “Working in Shanghai enables me to get in touch with the application of emerging transportation technologies, which is of critical importance to a transportation researcher.”

Assistant Professor of Urban Design, Guan Chenghe, who comes to Shanghai from the University of Oxford’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, said he is thrilled with his new home. He said he is looking forward to setting up a new Lab of Urban Science, Spatial Computation, and Data Analytics (LUCA), a research- based design consulting lab here on Century Avenue.

“The complex social, economic, and natural environment of this metropolitan region makes it one of the most cosmopolitan areas around the globe,” Guan said. “In this vertical campus in Pudong, I am expecting more interactions with people from different disciplines: mathematics, humanity, and sciences, etc, and to take full advantage of this ‘academic agglomeration’ or ‘compactness’ in spatial terms.”

NYU Shanghai’s course offerings and academic community will also be enriched by three senior NYU professors: Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and History Zachary Lockman, Professor of Philosophy John Richardson, a specialist in 19th and 20th century continental philosophy, and art historian at the German Department Professor Christopher S. Wood.

After more than 20 years as an NYU faculty member, Lockman says he is eager to get to know the NYU Global Network’s newest campus. “I want to learn more about the institution and its students, and also to get at least a glimpse of Chinese society and of how the world looks from this side of the planet, ” he said. “I've learned a lot already in the last few weeks and look forward to an interesting semester.”

Century Avenue will also be absorbing 186 new study away students from sister campuses in New York and Abu Dhabi, who bring insights and experiences not just from their home campuses but also from 21 home countries around the world.

Ye Mahar (Raven), NYU ‘21, a Business and Political Economy major, plans to study International Economics, the Political Economy of East Asia, Marketing, and Elementary Chinese for Advanced Beginners, as well as Chinese Flute at NYU Shanghai.

“As a Chinese-Burmese, I am looking forward to reconnecting with my heritage, and also taking advantage of the exciting business environment here in Lujiazui,” Ye said.

237 NYU Shanghai students are studying away this spring, with over 83% registering in New York. Other popular study-away sites include Washington DC, Abu Dhabi, London, and Tel Aviv.

New faculty members for 2018-19 Spring Semester: