Ya-Qin Zhang
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Ya-Qin Zhang (traditional Chinese: 張亞勤; simplified Chinese: 张亚勤; pinyin: Zhāng Yà Qín; born in 1966) is a Chinese scientist, technologist and business executive. Zhang has also been influential leader in global organizations, to help the underprivileged, narrow digital divide, and address the ethics and social impact of technological disruptions.[1] He currently serves as the President of Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), and plans to retire in October 2019 after five years with the company.[2]
Before joining Baidu Inc. in 2014 as the President of the company, Zhang was previously a key executive of Microsoft Corporation for almost 16 years, including Corporate Vice President for mobile and embedded Products in Redmond, Washington, Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA), and Chairman of Microsoft China.[3] His leadership and contributions have been highly regarded by Bill Gates [4]and well archived in a series of original books by Ling-2000 “in search of wisdom”[5], 2006 Buderi and Huang “Guanxi”[6], and Liu-2008 “Beyond Wisdom”[7]. His Weibo (Chinese Twitter) has over 12M followers at peak time of 2009.
Zhang has made significant contributions to the software and Internet technology and industry through his 550 publications, 62 US patents, and various landmark engineering achievements.[1] His seminal research in digital video and communications has profoundly advanced the algorithms and theory in the field, and has been extensively used in global standards and products[8]. He is elected to the Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019[9], and was inducted to Australia National Academy of Engineering (ATSE) as the only foreign fellow in 2017. He became an IEEE Fellow in 1997 at the age of 31, making him the youngest scientist winning this honor in the 100+ year history of the organization.[10] He received the industry pioneer award from IEEE for his seminal contributions and technical leadership in digital video and communications in 2004. Upon his winning of “Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer Award” in 1998, Zhang received a congratulation letter from former US president Bill Clinton, praising him as "an inspiration for others". [11][12]
Zhang currently serves on the Board of Directors of three high-tech companies, and holds board membership and adjunct professorship in five prestigious universities. He was named one of the top 10 CEOs in Asia, 50 global shapers, Executive of the year, IT innovator leader award by IT Times, Business Week, CNBC, Global business and Vision magazine. One of the prominent figures in artificial intelligence and autonoumous driving, [13]Zhang serves on the board of stewardship for the future of mobility of the Davos World Economic Forum[14], and is the Chairman of the Apollo Alliance, the largest open platform for autonomous driving in the world. Zhang is a founding member of UNDP (United Nations Development Program) Private Sector.[15]
Zhang was born in Shanxi, China in 1966, and is married with two children.
Education
At age 12, Ya-Qin Zhang was admitted to the University of Science and Technology of China as a special gifted young, then the youngest college student in the country.[16][17]
At age 17, Zhang obtained a B.S. degree from the University of Science and Technology of China, and 2 years later, acquired a M.S. degree from the same school, all majoring in electrical engineering.[13]
By age 23, he had earned a D.Sc, Electrical Engineering from the George Washington University, working on digital image coding and satellite communications.
Career
President, Baidu Inc. (2014-2019)
Ya-Qin Zhang joined Baidu Inc. as president of the company in 2014. Baidu is a leading Internet company in search, mobility, AI and cloud computing. As President, Zhang oversees the company’s overall technology, in charge of autonomous driving, cloud computing, technology infrastructure, and international business.[18]
He plans to retire from Baidu in October, 2019, after five years with the company. Zhang said he will devote “Life 3.0” to academia, philanthropy, and spending more time with family[citation needed].
Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Corporation (2004-2014)
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Managing Director and Chief Scientist, Microsoft Research Asia (1999-2004)
Before joining Baidu, Zhang was Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President and Chairman of Asia-Pacific R&D Group, leading Microsoft’s overall research and development efforts in Asia-Pacific, Microsoft’s largest R&D establishment outside of the US with over 3,000 scientists and engineers and annual budget of over USD 300M.[19] Over his 16 year tenure at Microsoft, he has taken various key positions, including the Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia (1999-2004), Chairman of Microsoft China Limited (2007-2013), Corporate Vice President of Mobile and Embedded Products (2004-2006), Asia-Pacific R&D Chairman and Corporate Vice President until September 2014.
He was a co-founder of Microsoft Research China in 1999 as the inaugural Chief Scientist, and then became the managing director in 2000 after its founding director Dr.Kai-Fu Lee’s promotion and relocation to Microsoft HQ. It was under Zhang's leadership that Microsoft Research China was elevated to Microsoft Research Asia in 2002, which has become a premier computer science research center in the world, with over 300 world-class scientists working on some of most innovative research and technologies in AI/machine learning, video and multimedia, computer vision and graphics, natural language processing, and cloud computing. MSRA was also the foundation for Microsoft Advanced Technology Center and Asia-Pacific R&D group, the largest R&D center for Microsoft outside of the US.[20]
In 2011, Zhang founded the Microsoft venture Accelerator in Beijing, and has become one of the most vibrant start-up engines in China with over 200 companies incubated over the years.
Zhang had also been the original architect of the Great Wall Plan, under which Microsoft invested roughly $25 million in Chinese education between 2002 and 2005, mainly to support curriculum development and faculty and managerial training at the country's then thirty-five software colleges.[6]
Sarnoff Corp., and GTE Lab (1990 to 1998)
Before joining Microsoft, Zhang was Director of the Multimedia Technology Laboratory at Sarnoff Corp. Princeton, New Jersey (RCA Laboratories), where he oversaw the development of several significant digital video encoding and communications technologies for commercial and surveillance/security systems. Prior to that, from 1989 to 1994, Zhang was a senior technical staff member at GTE Laboratories Inc. (now part of Verizon) Corp. in Waltham, MA.
Academic and Industry Awards
| Honors and Awards | Organization | Year Awarded |
| Fellow | American Academy of Arts and Sciences | 2019 |
| Fellow | Australia Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) | 2017 |
| Fellow | IEEE | 1997 |
| Industry Pioneer Award | IEEE | 2004 |
| David Sarnoff Award | Sarnoff Corp. (now SRI) | 1997 |
| Top Ten AI Innovator of the year | Global Mobile Internet Congress (GMIC ) | 2017 |
| 50 Most Influential Global Leaders | Global Entrepreneurs | 2008 |
| Best paper awards | IEEE (Trans. Multimedia, Trans. Video Tech, JSAC) | 2000, 2003, 2004, 2007 |
| CEO of the year | IT Times | 2015 |
| Honorary Fellow | Hong Kong Univ. of Science and Technology | 2012 |
| Engineer of the Year | Asia Engineering Society | 2007 |
Professional Affiliations and Activities
Government Policy Advisory
Member, Private Sector Board, United Nation Development Program (UNDP) (2016-now)
International Advisory Board, National IT Center of Australia, Sydney, Australia (2008-2011)
International Advisory Panel, Multimedia Supercorridor, Malaysia (2004-2011)
Advisor to National Science Foundation, China (2001-2004)
Academic Affiliation
| Affiliation | Organizations |
| China Advisory board | Cornell University (2015-now) |
| China Advisory board | University of Chicago (2016 – now) |
| Visiting Board | Columbia University Engineering School |
| Intl advisory board | Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2013 – now) |
| Advisory board | Engineering School, Univ. of Washington (2005-2007) |
| Advisory board | Engineering School, Univ. of Hong Kong (2002-2004) |
| Advisory Board/guest professor | Univ. of Science and Technology of China (2002 – 2005) |
| Adjunct Professor | Univ. of Sydney, Australia (2003 –now) |
| Guest Professor | Tsinghua University (1999 -2003) |
| Guest Professor | China Academy of Science (1999 – 2003) |
| Adjunct Professor | Hong Kong Univ. of Science and Technology (2000 –2014) |
| Adjunct Associate Professor | Tufts Univ. (1991-1994) |
Board of Directors in publically listed companies
Sohu.com (NASDAQ: SOHU: 2003-2006)
Autohome (NASDAQ: ATHM: 2012-2014 )
BestTV (SH A-Share: 2010-2014)
InfoNav( SH A-Share: 2011-2014)
ChinaSoft (HKSE: 2008-now)
Tarena (NASDAQ: TEDU: 2013-now)
AsiaInfo (HKSE: 2018-now)
Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief, IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems for Video Technology (CSVT)(1997-1999)
PROCEEDINGS OF IEEE (1997-2001)
IEEE Trans. Multimedia (2001-2003)
IEEE Journal of Selected Areas in Communications (1996)
OPTICAL ENGINEERING (1992-1994)
IEEE COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE (1991-1994)
JOURNAL OF VLSI SIGNAL PROCESSING (1997-2000)
JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC IMAGING (1994-1997)
Academia Science (2012-2017)
Publications
11 books/book chapters
550+ peer-reviewed publications (H-index 75 and over 25000 citations)
60+ granted US patents
100+ contributions to global standards
Others
Member, the Committee of 100
Zhang is a member of the Committee of 100. The Committee of 100 (C100) is a group of leading Chinese-Americans to promote the cultural, scientific, social, and economic exchanges between the US and China. [21]
Strategic Committee, the France China Foundation
Zhang serves on the Strategic Committee of the France China Foundation. The France China Foundation encourages the development of relationship between French and Chinese leaders, to stimulate their interest in the other country and to inspire them to set up joint projects. [22]
Wine Collector; Commandeur d'Honneur, the Commanderie du Bontemps
Zhang is a wine collector and is a member of the Commanderie du Bontemps de Médoc, des Graves, de Sauternes et de Barsac, one of the oldest and largest wine brotherhoods in France.
Avid Go player
Zhang is an avid Go player.
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References
- ^ a b "Ya-Qin Zhang". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ 于小明. "Baidu president to retire in October - Chinadaily.com.cn". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "How Microsoft Contributed to the Rapid Growth of China's Silicon Valley in High Tech Clusters". Tiensoon's Binaries. 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ Bill Gates Management Log 比尔盖茨管理日志. Bian jun jun., 卞君君. Bei jing: Zhong xin chu ban she. 2009. ISBN 9787508616209. OCLC 547432096.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Ling, Zhijun.; 凌志军. (2000). Zhui sui zhi hui : Zhongguo ren zai Wei ruan = Microsoft (Chu ban ed.). Beijing Shi: Zhongguo you yi chu ban gong si. ISBN 7505715658. OCLC 47607985.
- ^ a b Buderi, Robert. (2006). Guanxi (The art of relationships) : Microsoft, China, and Bill Gates's plan to win the road ahead. Huang, Gregory T. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743273222. OCLC 63297981.
- ^ Liu, Shiying.; 刘世英. (2010). Beyond Wisdom (Di 1ban ed.). Beijing: China Citic Publishing Group. ISBN 9787508622552. OCLC 696730228.
- ^ Entrepreneurial and business elites of China : the Chinese returnees who have shaped modern China = Hai gui tui dong Zhongguo : Zhongguo dang dai hai gui chuang ye ji shang jie jing ying. Zhang, Wenxian, 1963-, Wang, Huiyao., Alon, Ilan. United Kingdom: Emerald. 2011. ISBN 9780857240897. OCLC 732968868.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Newly Elected Members". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "Bill Gates appointed Zhang Yaqin as Microsoft's global vice president". en.people.cn. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ Ling, Zhijun.; 凌志军. (2003). Growing up 成长 (Di 1 ban ed.). Haikou Shi: Hainan chu ban she. ISBN 7544311457. OCLC 55048951.
- ^ Zhang, Yaqin.; 张亚勤. (2009). Bian ge zhong de si suo = Reflections in the time of transformation (Di 1 ban ed.). Beijing Shi: Dian zi gong ye chu ban she. ISBN 9787121097416. OCLC 502975037.
- ^ "百度总裁张亚勤：互联网未来发展的三个维度_科技_腾讯网". tech.qq.com. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "Ya-Qin Zhang". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "UNDP China Private Sector Advisory Board & Young Professionals Leadership Programme | UNDP in China". UNDP. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "中国故事 张亚勤_《中国故事》_视频_央视网". tv.cntv.cn. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ Heim, Kristi (2008-08-08). "Ya-Qin Zhang, Microsoft's leader in China, prospers in changed nation". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "百度总裁张亚勤:智能+是互联网+的发展延伸--《金卡工程》2016年03期". www.cnki.com.cn. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "Microsoft Asia-Pacific R & D Group - Microsoft Research | Microsoft China". www.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "Microsoft Research Asia 20th Anniversary" (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "MEMBERS | Committee 100". www.committee100.org. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "STRATEGIC COMMITTEE | France China Foundation". francechinafoundation.org. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
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