The new president of Peking University in China has ties to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University.
Jianhua Lin was named the 27th president of the university located in a western suburb of Beijing. Lin was the first post-doctoral researcher to work under ISU chemistry professor Gordon Miller.
“We actually met in Stuttgart,” Miller said. “He was a post-doc in the same institute where I had been – Max Planck Institute for Solid-State Research – and was recommended to me by a former colleague.”
Lin arrived in Ames in February 1991, just six months after Miller came to ISU. Lin helped Miller set up his lab, and he also worked on projects with the Ames Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy.
“As a post-doc, he was a diligent and creative researcher. He worked very well with the new graduate students, but also showed sufficient self-confidence during discussions with our faculty colleagues.
“I also think his experiences in Germany and the United States gives him an international perspective that is a valuable characteristic,” Miller added.
Peking University is a “comprehensive and national key university” of about 32,000 students founded in 1898, according to university information.