Campus Culture
Blending the traditions of ancient Chinese academies with the practices of residential colleges at renowned research universities worldwide, the Westlake Residential College system serves as the foundation and central pillar of our university's mission to nurture exceptional innovative talent and future leaders with a strong sense of social responsibility.
The four Westlake Residential Colleges—Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta—serve as living and learning communities for undergraduate students with diverse academic interests and family and cultural backgrounds. Each residential college features unique architecture, decor, common areas, dining halls, and other amenities.
Ling Li
Chair Professor in Environmental HydrologyDr. Li graduated from Tsinghua University with a Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental) degree in 1988, and received his PhD from the University of Western Australia in 1998. Between 1997 and 1998, he held a position of Lecturer in School of Engineering and Technology at Deakin University, Australia. In 1999, he moved to the University of Edinburgh (U.K.) as a Lecturer in School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. In 2002, he took a position of Senior Lecturer in School of Engineering at the University of Queensland, Australia and was promoted to Professor directly in 2005. In 2018, he joined Westlake University.
Dan Yang
Chair Professor in Chemical BiologyDr. Yang obtained her B.Sc. degree in chemistry from Fudan University in 1985. Through the U.S.-China Chemistry Graduate Program, she obtained an M.A. from Columbia in 1988 under the direction of Professor Ronald Breslow. She then joined Professor Daniel Kahne’s group at Princeton and got her Ph.D. in 1991. In the same year, she won a postdoctoral fellowship award from the Cancer Research Institute in New York to support her two-year research in Professor Stuart Schreiber’s group at Harvard. She started her independent career on organic chemistry and chemical biology at the University of Hong Kong in 1993 and was later promoted to a chair professor of chemistry and the Morningside Professor in Chemical Biology. In August 2021, Prof. Yang joined Westlake University as a chair professor.
Jian Yang
Tenured Professor of Statistical GeneticsHongyu Chen
Tenured Professor of Chemistry