The Council of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has approved the appointment of Professor Max Xiaobing Tang as Dean of the Faculty of Arts with effect from 2 September 2019. He will serve for a term of five years.

Professor Max Xiaobing Tang obtained his B.A. degree in English from Peking University in 1984, and received his Ph.D. degree in Literature in 1991 from Duke University. Before joining CUHK, he taught at the University of Michigan for 10 years and was the Helmut F. Stern Professor of Modern Chinese Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and Professor of Comparative Literature. He also held various leadership roles, including Associate Director of the Center for Chinese Studies, Associate Chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures as well as Director of Graduate Studies for the Department. He was the inaugural Director of the newly established Transcultural Studies MA Programme.

Professor Tang’s research expertise covers contemporary Chinese visual culture, theories of art and literature, and changes and developments in the mode of cultural production in modern China. His scholarly work has contributed to the understanding of the complexity as well as vitality of Chinese culture in the 20th century. Professor Tang has published many books and a series of academic journal articles. He was also a member of the External Programme Review Committee of a number of prestigious tertiary institutions such as Columbia University, Boston University and the University of Iowa. In addition, he was the external reviewer for the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong in 2011 and 2014-19, which demonstrates that his academic and professional achievements have been recognised in many sectors of society.

Professor Tang remarked, “I am greatly honoured to be appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Arts at CUHK. CUHK is renowned for its excellence in teaching and research, and the Faculty of Arts has gathered an outstanding group of teachers, scholars and researchers, many of them world-class scholars. I look forward to working with this excellent team and together contributing to the exchange and development of inter-disciplinary research in humanities subjects in Hong Kong, Asia and the world.”