From the mathematical models of Britain's power grid, through Tsinghua and Zhejiang, to the new University of Macau campus across the water from Hengqin — Yonghua Song is an engineering scientist who has threaded an entire academic-administrative career through two themes: low-carbon energy and the internationalisation of higher education.
Yonghua Song is the 9th Rector of the University of Macau, in office since 9 January 2018. He is one of relatively few ethnic-Chinese scholars to have held pro-vice-chancellor-level posts in both the British higher-education system and China's top universities, and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. His field is power systems; his research focus is the safe and efficient operation of low-carbon power systems.
Profile
- Chinese Name: 宋永華
- English Name: Yonghua Song
- Born: January 1964
- Domains: Academia
- Industry: Higher education · Power-systems engineering
- Subject type: Academic (Rector of the University of Macau)
- Education: B.Eng., Chengdu University of Science and Technology (1984); PhD, China Electric Power Research Institute (1989)
- Took office (current role): 9 January 2018
Background
Song was born in January 1964, earned a B.Eng. from Chengdu University of Science and Technology (later merged into Sichuan University) in 1984, and completed a PhD in power systems at the China Electric Power Research Institute in 1989. He then moved to Britain, teaching and researching at the University of Bristol, the University of Bath, and Liverpool John Moores University, before becoming Professor of Power Systems at Brunel University in 1997.
Over more than two decades in Britain he moved steadily from researcher to academic administrator: Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Graduate Studies at Brunel in 2004, then Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool in 2007, concurrently serving as Executive President of the Sino-foreign Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University — a cross-border "joint-venture university" experience that would become central to his approach to running institutions.
Career
I. A power-systems scholar in Britain (1990s–2009)
Song's academic foundation is power-system analysis and control. His professorship at Brunel cemented his standing in British electrical engineering; he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2004 and an IEEE Fellow in 2008. In this period he also received honorary doctorates from Brunel (2002), the University of Bath (2014), and the University of Edinburgh (2019).
II. Tsinghua and Zhejiang: building institutions back in China (2009–2017)
Song returned to China in 2009 as Assistant President of Tsinghua University and director of the national Recruitment Program of Global Experts ("Thousand Talents") office, working on state-level talent policy. In November 2012 he became Executive Vice President of Zhejiang University, where his signature achievement was founding — and serving as founding dean of — the Zhejiang University International Campus in Haining, an all-English campus built around partnerships with world-class institutions. That "build an international college from scratch" record made him a distinctive candidate when the University of Macau began its search.
III. Rector of the University of Macau (2018–present)
In November 2017 the UM University Council recommended Song as the sole candidate for the next rectorship to then-Chief Executive and UM Chancellor Fernando Chui Sai On; on 9 January 2018 he formally succeeded Wei Zhao as the university's 9th Rector. Having moved to its new Hengqin campus in 2014, UM had entered a phase of expansion and rising international rankings; under Song the university has pushed disciplinary development, its residential-college system, and research collaboration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. He was elected a Member of Academia Europaea in 2019 and received the Macao SAR Medal of Merit – Education in 2023.
Public Character
Song's public profile centres on two dimensions: the internationalising university leader and the engineering scientist. His record spanning the British system and China's top universities marks him as a manager fluent in joint-venture universities and research-university internationalisation, while his power-systems and low-carbon-energy background gives him professional standing in the Greater Bay Area's "green development" and research-collaboration agenda. This profile draws only on public academic and institutional records and does not address private life.
Key Achievements
- 9th Rector of the University of Macau (since 9 January 2018), driving expansion and internationalisation after UM's move to the Hengqin campus
- Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2004), IEEE Fellow (2008), Member of Academia Europaea (2019)
- Executive Vice President of Zhejiang University (November 2012 – December 2017); founding dean of the ZJU International Campus in Haining
- Assistant President of Tsinghua University (from 2009) and director of the national Recruitment Program of Global Experts office
- Professor of Power Systems and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Brunel University (1997 / 2004); Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool and Executive President of Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (2007)
- Recipient of the Macao SAR Medal of Merit – Education (2023)
Information compiled from the UM Rector's Office (rto.um.edu.mo), gov.mo / gcs.gov.mo official news, Exmoo (澳門力報), The Paper (澎湃新聞), and Wikipedia (zh), among other publicly available sources. If anything is inaccurate or needs updating, please contact us — we aim to respond within 48 hours.
