Staff Profiles

Professor Hans Hendrischke

Director

Professor Hans Hendrischke is Professor of Chinese Political Economy and Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Sydney. He was educated at universities in Germany, Taiwan and Japan and did his postgraduate research at the Contemporary China Institute at the London School of Oriental and African Studies. He lived in China from 1979 working for the diplomatic service and the finance industry. In his academic career he headed the Centre for Chinese Political Economy at Macquarie University and was Head of Chinese Studies and Head of School at UNSW.

A researcher on political and economic change in China, his current focus and publications are on emerging local entrepreneurship and local governance. His 2007 book China’s Economy in the 21st Century: Enterprise and Business Behaviour (co-edited with B. Krug) was published in a paperback edition in 2009. Professor Hans Hendrischke's research interests and publications.

Ms Xing Jin

General Manager

Xing Jin is an award-winning marketing specialist with more than 12 years experience in the field of community engagement and cross cultural communications. Xing's career has ranged from market development specialist in the arts and cultural industries, to marketing consultancy with large corporate firms. Xing is a highly valued marketing specialist who speaks regularly at public events and lectures, and consults on China-related products, services and events. Before joining the Confucius Institute, Xing was the Audience Development Manager at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2007. Xing's diverse Australian client experience includes the Sydney Opera House, Australia Council for the Arts, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Qantas, Medibank Private and Osteoporosis Australia.

Xing Jin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Language and Literature, a Master of Arts in Communication Management and a Diploma of Education. Xing is also an experienced Chinese language teacher. Her Australian teaching experience has ranged from taking high school HSC Chinese classes to giving lectures at universities and vocational colleges, which has provided her with a deep understanding of Chinese language teaching. Xing Jin brings a wealth of administrative, program development and market communication experience to the Confucius Institute.

Xi Ping Chen

Chinese Language Teacher

Xi Ping Chen has extensive experience in the design, development and teaching of Chinese courses at various campuses of TAFE NSW for over 20 years. More recently she has also been teaching Chinese at Wollongong University and Macquarie University. This has ranged over all levels and to students from Chinese speaking background and non Chinese speaking background. Besides teaching, her professional interests have included creating materials for online courses, writing modularised self learning packages and structuring course syllabi.

Prior to moving to Australia Xi Ping was a German interpreter and translator in both Germany and China for high level seminars, symposia, conferences and political discourse. She has translated extensive ranges of documents, books and technical papers to publishing standard.

Xi Ping graduated from Shanghai Foreign Language University majoring in German and Mandarin Linguistics. She has returned to China numerous times for further study at Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing Normal University and East China Normal University (Shanghai).

Xuelan Zhu

Chinese Language Teacher

Xuelan Zhu has been a lecturer at Beijing Union University from 2001-2008 teaching Chinese as a second language. She was also adjunct lecturer at Beijing Language University and Beijing Normal University. She was guest lecturer at Jeonju University and Sogang University, South Korea.

Ms Zhu has completed a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Language & Literature and a Master of Arts in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, in 1998 and 2001, respectively.

Pauline Huang

Tai Ji Teacher

Pauline Huang has dedicated years to the practice of Tai Ji Quan and travels regularly to China and Japan to be trained through rigorous regimes with her Chinese masters.

She is particularly proficient in the Wu style which emphasises harmony and self-development through subtle body movements. It is Pauline's vision to introduce Tai Ji Quan to the community to help promote energy, vitality and calm.

Jie Gao

Traditional Chinese Painting & Calligraphy Teacher

With a persistent love for traditional Chinese art and much experience teaching at university level, Jie Gao has been practicing calligraphy and painting for more than 20 years and has been instructed by famous Chinese calligraphers and painters. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Calligraphy and Painting, a Master of Arts in Chinese Flower-and-Bird Painting from Shanghai Normal University and a Master of Arts in Museum Studies at the University of Sydney.

Her calligraphy and painting works win awards in international exhibitions in China, Japan, Singapore and other countries, and are selected in florilegiums and publications.

Jie was previously employed as the Project Coordinator of the Theme Development Department working on the main pavilions for 2010 Shanghai World Expo and was the Assistant Curator of museum information collection, analysis and management in Shanghai Museum from 2006-2009.

Richard Niu

Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Teacher

Richard Niu has been teaching the Chinese Martial Arts course at the University of Sydney Confucius Institute since August 2011. Richard Niu was born in Hebei province, China in 1984. Richard began martial arts training at 6 years old. For many years, he has trained with the best martial arts teachers in China. Richard is a multi-awards winning Chinese martial arts master who has won numerous awards in international martial arts competitions between 2006 and 2009, including 2006 "Kung Fu Star" China National TV Competition, 2006 Macau Chinese Martial Arts International Competition, 2007 International Martial Arts Competition and 2009 Hong Kong International Kung Fu Competition.

In 2009, Richard graduated from the Hebei Normal University with a Master degree in Chinese Martial Arts Teaching. Richard believes that martial arts is a state of mind, people can improve their fitness and self-defence ability through learning kung fu movements and self-defence techniques.

Board Members

Professor John Hearn

Professor John Hearn is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) and Professor of Physiology at the University of Sydney, responsible for international engagement and internationalisation. Awarded his PhD from ANU, he has served for 6-7 years each as a researcher, teacher and leader at the Universities of Edinburgh, London UCL, Wisconsin, ANU and Sydney. A committed international citizen, he has worked extensively in China, India, Thailand, Kenya and Brazil. Currently a member of the steering group of the OECD Bioeconomy 2030 program and the Board of Sports Knowledge Australia, he was until recently also the Chairman of the Biotechnology Advisory Council to the Australian Government and of the WHO Asia-Pacific Panel in Reproductive Health Research. He has published 170 refereed research papers and edited six books in animal and human fertility, stem cell biology and biotechnology. He was elected President of the International Primatological Society and of the Society for Reproductive Biology. John Hearn first visited China with the World Health Organisation in 1979 and with the World Wildlife Fund in 1981, when he assisted in the research program for the conservation of the giant panda. He initiated and negotiated the awarding of the Confucius Institute to the University Sydney, and is the Chairman of the Board.

Professor Duncan Ivison

Duncan Ivison

Duncan Ivison completed his BA at McGill University in Montreal, and MSc and PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has taught at the University of Toronto, the University of York (UK) and been Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Fellow at Princeton University (2002-3). He is currently Professor of Political Philosophy and Dean of the Faculty of Arts. His research interests include political philosophy, the history of political thought and ethics. His books include: The Self at Liberty: Political Argument and the Arts of Government (Cornell UP, 1997); Postcolonial Liberalism (Cambridge UP, 2002); Rights (Acumen and McGill Queens Press, 2008); the Ashgate Research Companion to Multiculturalism (2010) and (with Paul Patton and Will Sanders) Political Theory and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Cambridge UP, 2002).

Professor Jeffrey Riegel

Jeffrey Riegel is Professor and Head of the School of Languages and Cultures in the Faculty of Arts at The University of Sydney, a position he has held since January 2007. Professor Riegel did postgraduate work at Stanford University and received his PhD in Chinese from Stanford University in 1978. In 1979, Professor Riegel joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, where he served in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures for 28 years, and eventually held the esteemed endowed chair, the Louis B. Agassiz Professor of Chinese. Professor Riegel also served for a time as chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and chair of the Centre for Chinese Studies. Professor Riegel's main areas of research are the thought, literature and archaeology of early China and he has published books and articles in these areas. Professor Riegel frequently attends conferences in China and has close research collaborations with the Shaanxi Province Institute of Archaeology and Peking University. He is a popular lecturer in the U.S. and has become involved in several lecture series in Sydney, including those organized at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Professor Riegel will serve as a member of the Executive Committee of the Confucius Institute where he will help facilitate cooperation between the Institute and the Faculty of Arts.

Professor David S G Goodman

David SG Goodman is Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Sydney, where he is also Acting Director for the China Studies Centre. Professor Goodman’s research is concerned primarily with social and political change in China, particularly at the provincial and local levels. In recent years he has written on the history of the Chinese Communist Party, China’s social history in the 20th century, and local social and political change in China.

Professor Goodman is currently working on two major research projects. The first is a social history project, looking at German colonial adventurers in China from 1870–1937. The second is concerned with contemporary social and political change and examines "The new rich and the state in China: the social basis of local power".

Dr Minshen Zhu

Dr Minshen Zhu received his BA from Fudan University in 1982 and his PhD from ANU 1989 specialising in Chinese Linguistics, Ancient Characters and Calligraphy. He was a Visiting Fellow at ANU, and was invited for a similar appointment to Harvard University in 1988 and as a Research Associate to UC Berkeley in 1989. His major publications include: The University Course of Chinese Calligraphy (1985), The Shanghai Dissertations (three volumes, 1996-2000) and The Shuowen Jiezi, the Dawn of Studies of the Ancient Characters (1999).

Dr Zhu is a Senior Adviser (China) to the Vice President International.