A globally recognised leader in world-class universities for more than a decade, Dawn Freshwater became the University's first female Vice-Chancellor in March 2020, after serving as the University of Western Australia's Vice-Chancellor and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Registrar for six years (2014-2020).

Since taking up the role of Vice-Chancellor at the University of Auckland, Professor Freshwater has led the development of the University’s ambitious Vision 2030 and Strategic Plan 2025, Taumata Teitei, which has an emphasis on sustainable eco-systems, just and cultured societies, health and well-being and trusted technology.

Professor Freshwater was the first female Chair of the G08 Research Intensive Universities in Australia, and Deputy Chair (2018-2020) having previously been a Director.  She is Chair of Universities New Zealand Research Committee, past Chair of the Partnership Board of the World University Network (WUN), Deputy Chair and Board Director of Research Australia, and the APRU Steering Committee.  She is also a member of Chief Executive Women (CEW) and Global Women New Zealand.

Professor Freshwater was awarded her PhD at the University of Nottingham (1998) contributing to the fields of Public Health (specifically Mental Health and Forensic Mental Health) and in researching Leadership practices which have won her the highest honour in her field - the Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing (FRCN). She was recently elected as Member Academia Europea (MAE) and as Fellow Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (FRCSI).

A strong advocate of industry engagement and of the role of higher education in supporting trade agreements, Professor Freshwater maintains strong professional ties with key figures in education and industry in Asia, Europe and the United States.

Joy Johnson is president and vice-chancellor of Simon Fraser University, and professor in its Faculty of Health Sciences.

As president, Joy is committed to building community partnerships; enhancing student learning experiences; supporting Indigenous reconciliation; and advancing equity, diversity and inclusion across the university.

Prior to her appointment as president, Joy served as SFU’s vice-president, research and international, and oversaw the evolution of cutting-edge research, innovation, and international engagement across eight faculties.

Under her leadership, SFU’s achieved the fastest growth of any Canadian university research income of any university in Canada, with a focus on mobilizing knowledge to enhance the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of its communities.

Prior to SFU, Joy had a distinguished career in academics and research. She is an elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and has co-authored more than 180 peer-reviewed articles.

Joy currently serves on the Universities Canada Board of Directors.

President Kohei Itoh graduated from Keio University and received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He joined Keio University as a faculty member in 1995 and became a full professor in 2007. He served as Dean of Faculty and Graduate School of Science and Technology of Keio University between 2017 and 2019, and as the Chair of Keio AI and Advanced Programming Consortium between 2018 and 2021. His main focus of research has been quantum computing, quantum sensing, and quantum physics, which led to more than 330 journal publications. He is one of 210 Council Members of the Science Council of Japan representing approximately 870,000 scholars in the country to propose and advise academic and scientific policies in Japan, and has served on numerous executive boards including the Physical Society of Japan and the Japan Society of Applied Physics. He leads a variety of quantum information projects in Japan as the Program Director of Quantum Information Technology in the MEXT Quantum Leap Flagship Program for researchers representing the field, and as the Chairperson for the expert panel on Quantum Technology Innovation for the government of Japan. He is a recipient of the Japan IBM Prize (2006) and the JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) Prize (2009). He is also a founder of the IBM Quantum Computer Network Hub at Keio University.

Professor Ho Teck Hua is the fifth president of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, where he is a Distinguished University Professor. He is also the founding executive chairman of AI Singapore; president of the Academy of Engineering, Singapore; and an academician of Academia Sinica.

Teck is a prominent behavioural scientist with a PhD in decision sciences from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. From 2018 to 2023, Teck served as senior deputy president and provost at the National University of Singapore. As provost, he was responsible for developing and enhancing NUS’s Lifelong Learning (NUS L³) Programme and recruiting promising and leading academics for the university. In 2015, he was the first awardee of the Singapore National Research Foundation’s Returning Singaporean Scientists Scheme. Before returning to Singapore, Teck was the William Halford Jr Family Professor of Marketing at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. In 2015, he was also conferred the Williamson Award, the Haas School’s highest faculty award, named in honour of Oliver Williamson, recipient of the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Teck was the first non-US citizen to be editor-in-chief of Management Science. In Singapore, Teck sits on the boards of DSO National Laboratories, the Government Technology Agency, and the National Research Foundation. In 2023, he was awarded the Singapore Public Administration Medal (Gold).

Professor Tan Eng Chye is a passionate and award-winning educator. He was a pioneer architect of the current academic system in NUS, and has seeded many initiatives such as the Special Programme in Science, University Scholars Programme, University Town Residential College Programme, Grade-free Year, and Technology-enhanced Education.

Professor Tan holds a First Class Honours Degree in Mathematics from the National University of Singapore and PhD from Yale University.

Professor Tan is a member of the Singapore’s Future Economy Council.  He is on the boards of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR); National Research Foundation; and NUS High School of Mathematics and Sciences. He is the Chair of Universitas 21, a leading global network of 27 research-intensive universities.

Professor Tan received the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2014 for his outstanding contributions to education. He was awarded the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal, which honours exceptional alumni in the areas of scholarship, teaching, academic administration and public service, by Yale University in 2018.  Professor Tan was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Southampton in 2018 in recognition of his achievements as “an innovative and exceptional teacher, and then as a distinguished and respected leader in academia”.

Dr. Honglim Ryu is the 28^th President of Seoul National University, effective February 1, 2023. In 1995, he became an assistant professor in Department of Political Science and International Relations of SNU. Since then he dedicated himself to researching and teaching more than 25 years. During his career at SNU, he served numerous leadership positions including Dean of College of Social Sciences in 2020-2022, Chair of Department of Political Science and Internation Relations, Editor-in-Chief of SNU newspaper[Daehakshinmoon], Director of Social Sciences Library of SNU, and President of Korean Society for Political Thought.

Professor Ding Kuiling has been the President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University since February 2023. Previously, as SJTU's Executive Vice President for five years, he was responsible for overseeing the university's academic affairs.

Prior to joining SJTU, Professor Ding held a number of senior positions in academia, including the role of Director at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC), and the role of Vice President at Shangha iTech University.

As a chemist and an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, he has received numerous prestigious awards, including the National Natural Science Award (Second Class), the Eli Lilly Scientific Excellence Award, the Yoshida Prize, and the Humboldt Prize. In addition, he serves as an editor of more than ten international chemistry journals.

Professor Ding holds a PhD in Chemistry from Nanjing University. His research interests include asymmetric catalysis and green chemistry based on organometallics. Notably, he pioneered and successfully implemented the combinatorial approach in the discovery of novel chiral catalyst systems. Furthermore, he is credited with developing the self-supporting strategy for chiral catalyst immobilization.

David Garza received a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering from Tecnológico de Monterrey and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Colorado State University.

He has a trajectory of more than 30 years with Tecnológico de Monterrey where he has served in different academic and leadership positions such as Director of Graduate Programs, Dean of Division, Dean of the School of Engineering (Monterrey campus), Director of Campus (San Luis Potosí campus), Regional Rector –responsible of the academic operations of Monterrey Campus (main campus)-, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education -he led key academic initiatives related to improving the quality of students, faculty and the development of Tec21 Educational Model- and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. He is Rector of Tecnológico de Monterrey since July 1st, 2017, a private nonprofit comprehensive university with 26 campuses in México and nearly 90,000 students (55,500 undergraduate, 8,000 graduate and 26,000 senior high school). It is international recognized for its strong reputation among employers and its entrepreneurial orientation, and it is consistently ranked among the Top universities in Latin America.

Dr. Garza has been a professor/researcher at the Informatics Research Center collaborating with academic departments, and teaching courses in the Electronic and Information Technologies related majors. He has participated as professor in the Masters and Ph.D. programs. As a researcher, he has participated in the definition and development of projects financed by highly prestigious institutions both national and international, such as: United States Agency for International Development, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, Advanced Research Projects Agency, European Commission and CONACYT. Some of his research projects have been in collaboration with international institutions such as: Virginia Tech, Southwest Research Institute and Colorado State University. As a faculty member he has been author of multiple journal/conference and book articles, and worked as consultant in different industry projects. He has been recipient, twice, of the Distinguished Faculty Award.

David Garza has been Chair of the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC), an initiative created with the support of ASEE and International Federation of Engineering Education Societies. He received an Honoris Causa Doctorate from Universidad Americana Nicaragua in 2012. He is a member of professional societies and organizations such as: ASEE, IEEE, ACM, Sigma Xi, and Phi Kappa Phi. He has served in different conference committees, and state, national and international councils from different industry and academic organizations and has been invited speaker/panelist in international events in more than 15 different countries. He is married with Claudia García Valadez and has four children: Claudia Marcela, Alejandro Daniel, Andrés Fernando and Sara Elisa.

Professor Xiang Zhang is currently the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

Prior to joining HKU in July 2018, he was the inaugural Ernest S. Kuh Endowed Chair Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Director of the Nano-scale Science and Engineering Center (SINAM). He has also served as the Director of Materials Science Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).

Professor Zhang is an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and of Academia Sinica, a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), the Optical Society of America (OSA), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the International Society of Optical Engineering (SPIE).

Professor Zhang received his PhD from UC Berkeley (1996), MS from the University of Minnesota and MS/BS from Nanjing University, China. He was an assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University (1996-1999), and associate professor and full professor at UCLA (1999-2004) prior to joining Berkeley’s faculty in 2004.

Professor Zhang’s current research focuses on materials physics, metamaterials and nano-photonics. He has published over 340 journal papers including 70 publications in Science and Nature family series. He has given over 330 Keynote, Plenary and Invited talks at international conferences and institutions. He was a Co-Chair of the NSF Nano-scale Science and Engineering Annual Grantee Conferences in 2004 and 2005, and has served as Chair of the Academic Advisory Board for the Research Center for Applied Science (RCAS), Academia Sinica.

In 2008, Professor Zhang’s research was selected by Time Magazine as one of the “Top Ten Scientific Discoveries of the Year” and “50 Best Inventions of the Year”,Discover Magazine‘s “Top 100 Science Stories” in 2007, and R&D Magazine‘s top 25 Most Innovative Products of 2006. His research has been frequently featured in international media, including the BBC, CNN, ABC, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. More recently, his research team’s work on “Casimir effect” at UC Berkeley was selected as one of the Top 10 Breakthroughs for 2019 by Physics World.

Professor Zhang is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (1997), the SME Dell K. Allen Outstanding Young Engineer Award (1998) and the ONR Young Investigator Award (1999). He was awarded the Chancellor’s Professorship by UC Berkeley (2004-2009), named Rohsenow Lecturer at MIT (2009) and William Reynolds Lecturer at Stanford (2012), and in 2017, chosen for the Pearsall Distinguished Lecture at Duke, the Hall Engineering Lecture at Vanderbilt, and the Towers Distinguished Lecture at Michigan Tech. In 2011, he was awarded the Fred Kavli Distinguished Lectureship by the Materials Research Society (MRS), the Miller Professorship by UC Berkeley, and named Distinguished Visiting Scientist (DVS) by the University of Toronto. He was awarded the Fitzroy Medal in 2014, the Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award in 2015, the Max Born Award from the Optical Society of America in 2016, the Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics in 2016, the Excellence Award in Scientific Leadership in 2016, and the A. C. Eringen Medal from the Society of Engineering Science in 2017.

Professor Deborah Terry AO is Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of Queensland (UQ). Prior to commencing this role in August 2020, she served as Vice-Chancellor of Curtin University, in Western Australia (from February 2014 to July 2020).

Professor Terry was made an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO) in June 2015, in recognition of her distinguished service to education in the tertiary sector.

She is a former Chair of the Board of Universities Australia; a Fellow and past President of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia; an appointed member of the Australian Research Council Advisory Council; and serves on the Australia and New Zealand School of Government Board and Australia’s Academic and Research Network Board (AARNET).

Having grown up in Perth and Canberra, Professor Terry completed her PhD in Social Psychology at the Australian National University in Canberra. From there, she commenced her distinguished career at UQ in 1990, initially as an internationally recognised scholar in psychology. During her 24 years at UQ, Professor Terry progressed through a number of senior leadership roles to become Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, before leaving for her role as Vice-Chancellor of Curtin University in early 2014.

Professor at the Universidad de Chile. She holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, with postdoctoral studies at the University of Southern California, USA.

She has served as Director of Graduate Studies (2006-2010), Provost (2010-2014) and Vice chancellor of Academic Affairs at the Universidad de Chile (2014-2022). In these roles, she has promoted higher education policies for more equality and inclusion. Also, she is a corresponding member of the Academia Chilena de Ciencias.

In June 2022, she took office as the first ever female Rector of the Universidad de Chile in 180 years.

Chancellor Gary S. May is a highly engaged leader with a passion for helping others succeed. He believes success is best judged by how we enhance the lives of others.

Throughout his career, he’s championed diversity, equity and inclusion in both higher education and the workplace. He developed nationally recognized programs that attract, mentor and retain underrepresented groups in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math. In 2015, President Obama honored him with the Presidential Award for Excellence in STEM Mentoring.

May earned his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science at UC Berkeley. He was inducted to the National Academy of Engineering in 2018. In 2020, May was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences under the classification of “educational and academic leadership.” In 2021, May was awarded a Lifetime Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an honorary doctorate from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

A prominent voice in higher education, May is a Commissioner of the Council on Competitiveness and other national committees.

His vision as UC Davis’ seventh chancellor is to lead the university to new heights in academic excellence, inclusion, public service and upward mobility for students from all backgrounds.

As UC San Diego’s chief executive officer, Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla provides vision and strategy, leading a campus of more than 43,000 students within 11 academic, professional and graduate schools and eight undergraduate residential colleges; a preeminent health system; and the prestigious Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Khosla initiated and led UC San Diego’s first-ever Strategic Plan and the ambitious 10-year, $2 billion Campaign for UC San Diego. The Campaign raised $3.05 billion, exceeding its original goal by more than $1 billion, and making UC San Diego the youngest institution ever to complete a multi-billion-dollar fundraising campaign. UC San Diego and UC San Diego Health are currently undergoing a $5 billion construction boom to expand healthcare services, classrooms, research space and double the number of on-campus housing units.

Under Chancellor Khosla’s leadership, UC San Diego has expanded college access and affordability for underserved students, initiated campus-wide interdisciplinary research initiatives to foster collaboration and solve societal challenges, and strengthened university and community partnerships to drive regional impact.

Khosla is active in groups that promote and advance engineering and electronics knowledge. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and the American Society for Engineering Education. He was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Association for Advancement of Science, the American Association of Artificial Intelligence, the Indian Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Academy of Science.

As the twelfth president of USC, President Carol Folt has defined an arc of purpose for the University of Southern California that has set a visionary course for innovation, creativity, and sustainability across the institution. An accomplished academic leader and life scientist who always puts students first, President Folt has elevated diversity, equity and inclusion, access, and affordability – creating spaces for all students to feel that they belong.

Before coming to USC, President Folt previously served as chancellor of UNC Chapel Hill, held several leadership appointments at Dartmouth, and has held several faculty appointments in marine and environmental biology, civil and environmental engineering, and preventive medicine.

As a scientist, President Folt’s pioneering research on the effects of dietary mercury and arsenic on human and ecosystem health led to numerous national and global policy changes and consumption advisories.

President Folt earned her bachelor’s degree in aquatic biology and a master’s degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her doctorate in ecology from the University of California, Davis.

Prof. Schneider was elected as APRU’s 5th Chief Executive and took up the role from Janurary 2023. A native of Germany, Prof. Schneider studied at the University of Zurich, the University of Basel and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He earned his degrees (Lizentiat 1990; Dr. phil. 1996; Habilitation 1999), all in Egyptology, from the University of Basel. Throughout his career, he has held academic and administrative positions in four global regions – North America; Asia; Europe; the Middle East. He was a Lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Zurich (2000-3), a Junior Research Professor of the Swiss National Science Foundation at the University of Basel (2001-5), Professor and inaugural holder of the Chair in Egyptology at Swansea University, Wales (2005-7), before joining the University of British Columbia. He held Visiting Professorships at the University of Vienna (1999), the University of Heidelberg (2003-4) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2018). He was a Visiting Scholar at New York University (2006), the University of California, Berkeley (2012), the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing (2016) and Shanghai University (2018, International Masters Program). And from 2018-20, Prof. Schneider served the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China’s fastest-rising new STEM university, as Associate Vice President (International), spearheading its internationalization efforts. Recently, Prof. Schneider has founded PALAC – a new consortium of liberal arts colleges focused on experimental learning in the liberal arts across multiple economies in Asia and North America.

In addition to his Executive Directorship of the PALAC consortium and the Associate Vice President position at SUSTech (in which functions he has engaged with a large number of APRU member institutions), Prof. Schneider has acquired significant leadership experience at the departmental level (Acting Department Chair; Director of Graduate Studies; Chair of Egyptology) and university level (Senator on the UBC Senate, 2014-8). He oversaw specific strategic projects and initiatives as Special Advisor to the Vice-Provost and Dean, Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies, at UBC (2015-7) and as Advisor to the President at Quest University Canada (2016-17).

Prof. Schneider has acquired a broad knowledge of the spectrum of disciplines represented by APRU member institutions, as a humanities scholar who has also worked for a STEM research university. He has been a consultant, adjudicator and reviewer for universities, funding agencies and publishers in North America, China, Europe, Israel, and Australia, as well as an executive editor of academic periodicals. His own scholarship (160 publications, among which 7 authored books and 7 edited books) focuses on cultural and linguistic interconnections in the Near East, the environmental history of Egypt, and the history of the humanities in Nazi Germany.

Email: [email protected]

Albert Chan joined APRU in September 2023, as Director of Administration and Finance.

With extensive experience in the field of financial accounting and corporate governance, Albert started his career as an external auditor in Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu of Hong Kong. He then served in commercial companies with operations ranging from telecommunications and engineering services, trading and retail, as well as construction and fitting out businesses.

Albert holds a B.A. in Accountancy from The City University of Hong Kong and has a Master of Business Administration from the Warwick Business School of University of Warwick, United Kingdom.

He is a fellow member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, United Kingdom.

Email: [email protected]

Chancellor Gene Block has retired as the 6^th Chancellor of UCLA. He served UCLA from 2007-2024 and has also served on the APRU Steering Committee for 11– years and 7 years—as APRU Chair. Chancellor Block was honored at the APRU Annual Presidents’ Dinner Gala Dinner at the University of Auckland in June 2024 with a Certificate of Appointment as APRU Ambassador for his longstanding stewardship of APRU.

As an APRU Ambassador, Chancellor Block will continue to support the activities of the association and give advice on its impact and advocacy across the region.

Please read more about Chancellor Block here. 

Professor Rocky S. Tuan served as the eighth Vice-Chancellor and President of The Chinese University of Hong Kong from January 1, 2018 - January 8, 2025. He was concurrently Lee Quo Wei and Lee Yick Hoi Lun Professor of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at the University. Prior to joining CUHK in 2016 as a distinguished visiting professor and the founding director of the Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, he held several appointments at the University of Pittsburgh, including distinguished professor of orthopaedic surgery and director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering in the School of Medicine. He is also founding director of the Center for Military Medicine Research and Associate Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Professor Tuan is an internationally renowned biomedical scientist specializing in musculoskeletal biology and tissue regeneration, whose work covers both basic science and engineering, as well as translational and clinical applications. His significant contributions have been recognized by the Hap Paul Award of the International Society of Technologies in Arthroplasty in 1997, the Marshall Urist Award for Excellence in Tissue Regeneration Research of the Orthopaedic Research Society in 2004, the Carnegie Science Award in Life Sciences, and the Clemson Award of the Society for Biomaterials in 2016. In 2017, Professor Tuan was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) for his accomplishments in innovation and translational research that bring significant impact on society.

Carol Zachs has worked in the field of international education for over 20 years.  As Senior Director, Global Engagement, she is responsible for implementing SFU’s global engagement, and promoting and enhancing SFU’s profile domestically and internationally through the development and oversight of SFU’s global strategies across regions, sectors and faculties; and of partnerships with academia, government, private sector, non-governmental organizations, diplomatic corps, and international organizations. Prior to joining SFU, Carol oversaw the study and research abroad program at UBC where she was responsible for strategic development of institutional partnerships and co-curricular intercultural learning programs. She has worked abroad in Denmark and for WUSC/Uniterra in Ghana. She holds a Masters of Education from UBC with a focus on globalization and adult learning, and an Executive MBA from SFU. She is also co-founder and former co-chair of the CBIE International Relations Professional Learning Community. 

Professor Dr. Yvonne Lim Ai Lian is currently the Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International), Universiti Malaya, Senior Professor at the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and a University Senate Member. She is a fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, the co-chair of the Asia Pacific Women in Leadership Programme and a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.

Prior to this, she has taken on university and national leadership roles as the Deputy Dean (Research) at the Faculty of Medicine, Director of International Relations Office and Associate Vice Chancellor of Global Engagement, Universiti Malaya. She was also the former President of the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine and former Council Member of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.

Her research focuses on host-parasite-environment interactions among underserved indigenous communities from a range of socioeconomic, ecological and urbanisation gradient. She has been studying infectious diseases among the Orang Asli (indigenous) populations of Peninsular Malaysia for close to three decades. Her involvement in shaping national policies, including the National Policy for the Development of Orang Asli (Indigenous), underscores her commitment to community welfare.

In recent decade, her team’s work with collaborators from New York University unravelled the mechanisms of how low levels of helminth (worm) infection promote growth of probiotic gut microbiota, which was published in Science 2016. The gut microbiome work has also expanded to among HIV and cancer patients. Recently, her collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA has not only delved deeper into the understanding of parasitic infections and gut microbiome but also into the association of skin infections with skin microbiome.

Her work has been funded by various national and international grants (eg. US NIHR01 grants). More recently, she was awarded the NIH Grant Number: 1R01AI183416-01 as a principal investigator. She has published more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 9 book chapters and 3 books. She has supervised to completion more than 40 postgraduate students and hosted researchers from a vast network of local and international partnerships (eg. US, UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore). She was a visiting researcher at the Scottish Parasite Diagnostic and Reference Laboratory (formerly Scottish Parasite Diagnostic Laboratory), Glasgow, Scotland; a visiting fellow at the Department of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Australia; a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA and the Department of Molecular Parasitology and Tropical Diseases, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan.

She has received numerous awards and recognitions, among which were the MSPTM Medal (2008) for being an outstanding young scientist; the Universiti Malaya Excellent Lecturer award for the Science Disciplines (2015); the Top Research Scientists of Malaysia Award (2016) and inducted as a Fellow of the eminent Academy of Sciences Malaysia (2017). She was cited by Stanford University as one of the top 2% scientists for the years 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024 in her field of expertise. In 2021, she was awarded the Fulbright Scholar Award 2021/2022 for an attachment at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA. She was awarded the Sandosham Gold Medal Award in 2024 which represents the highest work of distinction awarded by the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine to outstanding Scientists for their achievements in the field of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine.

Joanna Regulska, vice provost and dean of Global Affairs and distinguished professor of gender, sexuality and women’s studies at the University of California, Davis, has led large-scale programs that transform institutions, establish partnerships, and substantially improve global services for over 30 years.  Regulska oversees Global Affairs at UC Davis, where she strives to provide all students with global learning experiences through a Provost’s Priority of Global Education for All; engage faculty, staff and students with the UN Sustainable Development Goals as part of UC Davis’ commitment to solving global challenges; and help promote understanding and address global inequities. Regulska serves on the board of directors for NAFSA: Association of International Educators as the vice president for public policy and practice. In 2022, she was honored with the Charles Klasek Award for outstanding service to the field of international higher education from the Association of International Education Administrators. In 2021, Regulska was named an inaugural member of the National Academy for International Education and in 2019, she was honored with the first-ever Senior International Officer Award from the Institute of International Education.  A respected scholar, Regulska’s research concentrates on women’s political activism, grassroots mobilization, decentralization, democracy and democratization, with a focus on Europe and the Caucasus. Regulska is the co-chair of Asia Pacific Women in Leadership Program.

Jerome Hui is the Co-Director, of the APRU Biodiversity Program and is currently the Associate Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also the Director of Biology Programme, and members of Cell and Molecular Biology Programme, Environmental Science Programme, and Molecular Biotechnology Programme of the School of Life Sciences. He received his DPhil from the University of Oxford, and postdoctoral training from University of Manchester and University of Oxford. As an evolutionary biologist and zoologist, he has keen research interests on arthropods, cnidarians, invertebrates, cross-kingdom interactions, biotechnology, genomics, molecular ecology, and conservation of biodiversity.

Further information can be found at the following webpage: https://www.sls.cuhk.edu.hk/index.php/faculty-and-staff/teaching-staff/26-sls/faculty-and-staff/teaching-staff/105-professor-hui-ho-lam-jerome.

Dr Carolyn Hogg has been working on the conservation of threatened species for over twenty-five years both in Australia and overseas. Carolyn is currently the Senior Research Manager for the Australasian Wildlife Genomics Group in the Faculty of Science, and the Science Lead for the Threatened Species Initiative. Working closely with both academic and conservation management partners we are developing better tools and technologies to integrate molecular genetics into real-time conservation management decisions with a suite of Australian species such as Tasmanian devils, koalas, bilbies, orange-bellied parrots and more.

Nathan Lo, Program Co-Director of Biodiversity Program is an evolutionary biologist interested in genome evolution, molecular ecology, and phylogenetics of arthropods. He has research programs on the evolution of social behaviour in termites and the symbionts of arthropods. After joining the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at The University of Sydney in 2009, he was an Australian Research Council (ARC) QEII Research Fellow from 2010-2014, and is currently an ARC Future Fellow (2017-2021). He was Biodiversity Research Initiative Leader at the Australian Museum, Sydney from 2008-2009. He has published over 140 scientific papers, which have been cited over 8500 times.

Woo Soo Kim is a Professor at the School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering, Simon Fraser University, Canada. His research interests include advancing 3-D printing technologies and exploring their applications in engineering. He received B.Sc. degree from Yonsei University, M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea. He completed Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA.

Eleanor “Elly” Vandegrift is the Director of the Global Studies Institute at the University of Oregon in the Division of Global Engagement. She supports faculty and student global research engagement that promotes academic excellence at the University of Oregon and with global partners. As biology faculty, Elly earned multiple teaching awards for leading biology, pedagogy, and interdisciplinary courses focused on improving science literacy. She has worked with local, national, and international STEM education organizations dedicated to supporting faculty professional development and improving student learning. Elly is the author of several articles about STEM education reform and educational development. As GSI Director, she leverages a track record landing and running grants, gifts and contracts; direct work with international donors and funding agencies; as well as curricular, pedagogical and programmatic innovation in global contexts. Elly cotaught the APRU Teaching and Learning in Virtual Environments online series and co-leads the APRU Student Climate Change Simulation. Elly trained as an ecologist at Earlham College and Oregon State University.

Mellissa Withers, Program Director of Global Health Program is an academic who has turned her passion for other cultures and women’s empowerment into a full-time adventure. She serves as Professor and Director of Pedagogical Enrichment and Training in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, where she teaches global health-related courses. She is also the director of the APRU Global Health Program. Her work focuses on a broad range of global health issues, including sexual and reproductive health, women’s empowerment, migrant health, and mental health, with a particular emphasis on community participatory research and qualitative methodology.

She earned her Ph.D. in Community Health Sciences from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in Los Angeles, USA in 2009 with an emphasis on medical anthropology. Her dissertation explored fertility intentions in Bali, Indonesia, where she immersed herself in the local culture for 15 months. She also earned a Master’s in Health Sciences from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of International Health, and a B.A. degree in Global Development from UC Berkeley.

Dr. Withers' has traveled to more than 75 countries and has lived in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Indonesia. Her research is informed by her international experiences and commitment to understanding diverse health challenges. Outside of her professional pursuits, you might find her salsa dancing, kayaking, practicing yoga, or planning her next trip, reflecting her vibrant and dynamic approach to life and work.

Email: [email protected]

Sierin Lim is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering at the School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and the Associate Dean for Global Partnerships at the Graduate College, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore. She earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and did a postdoc at University of California Irvine. She is the founder of the Biomedical Engineering Society (Singapore) Student Chapter and Women@NTU Initiatives. She has received several awards including the Asia Pacific Networking Research Fellowship from the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (2012), L’Oréal-UNESCO Singapore for Women in Science National Fellowships (2013), Tan Chin Tuan Fellowship for Exchange in Engineering (2016), Outstanding Woman in Biomedical Engineering Venus International Women Awards (2019).

Adrian Little is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Melbourne where he has served as Pro Vice Chancellor International and APRU Senior International Leader since 2018. He moved to Melbourne from the University of London in 2004 and went on to serve for a decade as the Head of the School of Social and Political Sciences. Adrian is the author of seven books and (co-)editor of three others on topics including contemporary political and social philosophy, Indigenous politics, borders and mobility, political conflict and democracy. His most recent book is Temporal Politics: Contested Pasts, Uncertain Futures (Edinburgh University Press, 2022). In recognition of his contribution to global research in his field, Adrian was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia in 2020. Within APRU, Adrian is the founder and co-convenor (with Noelani Puniwai, University of Hawai’i Manoa) of the Indigenous and First Nations Knowledges Network which will have its fourth annual meeting (one virtual and three in-person) at the Universidad de Chile in November 2024. The previous two meetings were held at the University of Melbourne and in Chiapas, Mexico hosted by Tec de Monterrey. As a ‘first-in-family’ university student, Adrian is committed to equity and widening participation in international education. He works to create opportunities for greater access to tertiary institutions for marginalised groups in society, as well as recognition of diverse cultures and knowledge systems.

Noelani Puniwai is passionate about cultivating the next generation of students to mālama ʻāina. She has been trained academically (PhD in Natural Resources and Environmental Management, UH Mānoa; MSc. in Environmental Science, Washington State Univ; BA in Marine Science, UH Hilo) to practice malama ‘āina/kai. Yet through her experiences in her culture, science training, and student mentorship, she’s recognized that feeling aloha ‘āina, he alo a he alo, face to face must also be practiced, moving beyond exclusively intellectual pursuits. Her research interests include coastal ecosystems, cultural geography, knowledge co-production, and seascapes. Noe believes that we can use the rigor and methodologies of pono science, the foundational wisdom of our kūpuna, and our experiential daily practice of aloha ‘āina to awaken responsible action for the future of our Hawai’i.

Simon Bates is Vice-Provost and Associate Vice President, Teaching and Learning at the University of British Columbia and a tenured Professor of Teaching in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Following graduate and postdoctoral work at the interface of computational physics and theoretical chemistry, he has 25 years’ experience working in the area of technology-led educational enhancement and research. As well as leading UBC’s response to integrating generative AI tools into academic offerings, he has been involved in a number of networks and collaborations considering some of the benefits and challenges these tools pose within Higher Education, including a pan-Canadian network of institutions and as Academic Lead for the APRU ‘Generative AI in Education’ project.

Since 2019, Michiko Yoshida has been supporting Chulalongkorn University’s global engagement efforts in the context of its expanding public role to build a sustainable society. With 34 years of experience in the non-profit sector promoting international intellectual and cultural exchanges, she is committed to the cocreation of knowledge that cultivates empathy and a culture of mutual respect amongst peoples. Cutting across boundaries, she facilitates international intellectual exchanges, dialogues, and collaborations among academics, civil society actors, policymakers, and community stakeholders. Together with key international partners, Michiko spearheads several initiatives that promote transdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder engagements through university efforts at national/regional/global levels. She is the Program Chair of the APRU SDG Education for Global Citizenship program; a co-convener of the regional platform Civic Engagement 4.0~Dignity, Justice, Sustainability, which launched “Training the Trainers for Engaged Social Service in a Borderless World” (training for displaced teachers from Myanmar) in 2023; and the Project Director of the CU-UNESCO Futures Literacy Project in which Chulalongkorn University established its UNESCO Chair for Resource Governance and Futures Literacy.

Ms. Shally Fan is Director of Academic Links at CUHK. She promotes and supports the University’s global engagement strategy in research and education with a view to strengthening its impact and visibility on the global stage and enriching the international exposure and intercultural experience of students. She oversees all aspects of global engagement at the University, including teaching and research partnerships, strategic alliances and networks, collaborative agreements, as well as student and faculty mobility, among other programmes and initiatives.

Ms. Fan received her BA from The University of Adelaide and MCom from the University of South Australia. She joined the Office of Academic Links at CUHK in 2001 to manage the University’s student exchange programmes. Since then, she has expanded the scope and number of the global engagement programmes for faculty and students.  Ms. Fan is a frequent speaker in international education forums and served on the Board of Directors of the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education during December 2015 to June 2017.