Barnard Professor of Political Science Xiaobo Lu Named Director of the East Asian Institute at Columbia University for a Three-Year Term

New York, N.Y., May 16, 2002— Xiaobo Lu, Associate Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, was appointed director of the East Asian Institute at Columbia University (EAI) for a three-year term in April 2002. Lu has been the Institute’s acting director since July 2001.

Lu, who received tenure and was promoted to associate professor in March 2002, is the first Barnard faculty member to be appointed director of the East Asian Institute, a leading center for East Asian studies. He is also the first Chinese-born faculty member to hold the position. Lu has been a member of the EAI and has actively participated its programs and events since his 1994 arrival at Barnard.

Since its establishment in 1949, the East Asian Institute has been the center for Asian-Pacific activities at Columbia. With programs spanning China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and the countries of Southeast Asia, its mission is to train new generations of Asian experts in the humanities, social sciences, and professional careers as well as enhance understanding of East Asia in the wider community.

Faculty and scholars at the Institute are distinguished by their interdisciplinary and multinational focus. In conjunction with the Schools of International and Public Affairs, Arts and Sciences, Business, and Law, the Institute brings together over 50 full-time faculty, a diverse group of visiting scholars and professionals, and more than 250 students from around the world. The importance of East Asian Studies at Columbia has been recognized by a wide variety of funding sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, which has designated Columbia as an East Asian National Resource Center since 1960.

Madeleine Zelin, the former Director of the EAI, praised Lu, "Xiaobo is already being recognized within the greater university community and within the East Asian studies community in the U.S. as an important figure. We hope that Xiaobo's leadership at the EAI will bring us even closer to Barnard and its students."

While working in his administrative position and taking on new challenges, Lu’s research agenda remains full. He co-authored (with Thomas Bernstein of Columbia’s Political Science Department) a forthcoming book, Taxation without Representation in Contemporary Rural China, which will be published by Cambridge University Press later this year.

Xiaobo Lu is also active in public service. He recently became a member of the Committee of 100, a prominent Chinese American organization whose members include Yo Yo Ma, I.M. Pei and former Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien.

Contact: Petra Tuomi, Public Affairs, 212-854-7907