CU Boulder's Chemistry Chair Joins China's New University Full-Time

Recently, internationally renowned chemist Professor Wei Zhang, a recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship and former Chair of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder, officially joined Great Bay University (GBU) in China as a full-time faculty member. He has been appointed Chair Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Materials Science.

According to available information, Great Bay University was officially established in Guangdong Province, China, in June 2025. Positioned as a high-level, research-intensive, internationally oriented institution with a "small but elite" model, the university focuses on fundamental and frontier scientific research to support China's major national strategies and the socioeconomic development of the Greater Bay Area. It is committed to building a new research university that is world-class, open and inclusive, and distinguished by its Greater Bay Area identity.

Professor Wei Zhang

Professor Zhang received his bachelor's degree from the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering at Peking University before pursuing graduate studies in the United States. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and subsequently completed postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

He later joined the faculty of the University of Colorado Boulder, a leading research university internationally recognized for excellence in physics, chemistry, aerospace engineering, and other scientific disciplines, and home to numerous Nobel laureates. Professor Zhang was awarded tenure in 2014, promoted to Full Professor with tenure in 2018, and has served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry since 2022.

Professor Zhang's research focuses on functional polymeric materials enabled by dynamic covalent chemistry. His work has consistently bridged fundamental chemistry and practical applications, spanning two-dimensional materials, porous organic materials, sustainable and recyclable polymers, molecular separations and carbon capture, flexible sensing devices, and materials for all-solid-state batteries. Together, these efforts form a highly interdisciplinary research program that extends from molecular design to functional materials and onward to applications in energy, environmental technologies, and electronic devices.

In recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions, Professor Zhang has received the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award and the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, and has been elected a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). He has also been named a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher for two consecutive years. The Sloan Research Fellowship is widely regarded as one of the world's most prestigious early-career scientific honors, with many of its past recipients later going on to win the Nobel Prize.