Jin Hong Jian is a leading member of the business community in Shanghai, with interests in construction and development, as well as education. A former lecturer in mathematics, Mr. Jian is involved in a number of international schools and is very passionate about 21st-century education.

Tim Guo is a Taiwanese-American businessman and school leader, with interests around the world. Mr. Guo is on the Board of numerous international schools and spends much of his time planning new educational development. The George Guo Building is named in honor of Mr. Guo’s father.

Zhang Lu lives in the US where she is involved in many different enterprises which are close to her heart. When she visits WISS, she is always delighted to see the progress of the school she helped to found. Ms. Zhang has had a notable career in a number of different areas, including on Television in Taiwan.

Professor Davis is a leading academic and one of the most respected Chinese-Americans in the US. She has served as the Vice President of Drexel University, Vice Dean and founder of the Graduate School of Education for the University of Pennsylvania, and is currently Special Advisor to the President of the Teachers College, Columbia University, Special Advisor to President of the University of Pennsylvania, and Senior Advisor to the Shanghai Government. Professor Davis is one of the most renowned scholars on East-West relations and philosophy relating to education, founding the Eight Nations Education Research Project to cooperate on educational policy and chairing education roundtables with leading professors and ministers from the US, China, France, New Zealand, and Thailand. For her work in the field of education, Professor Davis has received numerous awards including the President’s Award for Excellence in Leadership from Drexel University, the first University of Pennsylvania Alumni Pioneers Award, and the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education by the government of Thailand.

Paul Kelly was a renowned business and finance leader. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Knox & Co. investment banking, former Chairman of the Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business at the University of Pennsylvania, President and Chief Executive Officer of PH II investments, Executive Director of the Westgate Group which specializes in international strategic consulting services to governments and corporations, and a Senior Advisor to the Shanghai Government on international relations, business, and education. Mr. Kelly was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Director’s Advisory Board of the Yale Cancer Center, a member of the Visionary Council of MIT Collaborative Initiatives, Co-Chairman of the US-China Future Leaders Program, he was an active supporter of the University of Auckland and its Business School, was a member of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, and was listed in Who’s Who in America, and the World.

After serving as Co-Chair of the WISS Academic Advisory until 2021, Mr. Kelly passed away in March 2021, due to complications from COVID-19. He was a loved and valued member of the WISS community and will not be soon forgotten.

Dr. Maynard is an expert in the design and implementation of research in education and social policy. The former Senior Vice President at Mathematica Policy Research and the former Commissioner of the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance at the Institute of Education Sciences, Dr. Maynard is currently University Trustee Chair Professor of Education and Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Fellow of the American Education Research Association, President of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, former President of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, recipient of the Peter H. Rossi Award for Contributions to the Theory and Practice of Program Evaluation, co-recipient of the Society of Prevention Research Public Service Award, and recipient of the Best Book Award, Society for Research on Adolescents.

Dr. Lu is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and the Director of the Biomaterials and Interface Tissue Engineering Laboratory at Columbia University. Her innovative research in regenerative medicine has been recognized with many awards, including the Career Award in Translational Research from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, and the Young Investigator Award from the Society for Biomaterials. Professor Lu was honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers at the White House in 2010, and was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2011. Her research is supported by the Whitaker Foundation, the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, the New York State Stem Cell Initiative, the National Football League Charities and the National Institutes of Health. Professor Lu also has extensive experience with admissions and student outreach programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Professor Hartmann is a German educationalist, Emeritus Professor of Comparative and International Education at the University of Hamburg, and President of the General Synod of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD). He is a former Director of the Institute of Language Teaching and the Institute for Comparative Education at the University of Hamburg and was the university’s Vice President for seven years. He was the vice-chair of the governing board and the executive committee of the UNESCO-Institute of Education for nine years. Professor Hartmann represents the University of Hamburg in the European University Foundation in Luxembourg and holds visiting professorships in Riga, Kaunas, and Luxembourg.

Dr. Murphy is one of the most accomplished professors at Harvard and has written extensively on the politics of education over the last five decades. The former Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Dr. Murphy is currently the Harold Howe II Professor of Education and serves as a member of the National Advisory Council on the Education of Disadvantaged Children.

Dr. John DeFlaminis is Executive Director of the Penn Center for Educational Leadership. As Superintendent of the Radnor Township School System, one of the best performing systems in the United States, Dr. DeFlaminis developed standards-based systems with international benchmarks.

Professor Davis is a leading academic and one of the most respected Chinese-Americans in the US. She has served as the Vice President of Drexel University, Vice Dean and founder of the Graduate School of Education for the University of Pennsylvania, and is currently Special Advisor to the President of the Teachers College, Columbia University, Special Advisor to President of the University of Pennsylvania, and Senior Advisor to the Shanghai Government. Professor Davis is one of the most renowned scholars on East-West relations and philosophy relating to education, founding the Eight Nations Education Research Project to cooperate on educational policy and chairing education roundtables with leading professors and ministers from the US, China, France, New Zealand, and Thailand. For her work in the field of education, Professor Davis has received numerous awards including the President’s Award for Excellence in Leadership from Drexel University, the first University of Pennsylvania Alumni Pioneers Award, and the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education by the government of Thailand.