Xu Ao'ao: the solar physicist who built a decade of Macau University of Science and Technology

The 2nd President of the Macau University of Science and Technology (2002–2012), Xu Ao'ao is an astronomer and higher-education leader. Born in 1940 in Changzhou, Jiangsu, he graduated from the astronomy department of Nanjing University in 1962 and stayed on to teach, working for decades in solar physics, space physics, and plasma physics; he later became a professor and doctoral supervisor in astronomy and served as provost and vice-president of Nanjing University. In 2002 he became President of MUST, succeeding founding president Chow Lai-ko, and over the next decade helped grow the comprehensive university — founded in 2000 — in disciplinary strength and scale, stepping down in 2012 and later serving as adviser to the MUST chancellor. He was a member of the 9th and 10th National CPPCC.

A Nanjing University astronomer who studied the sun and plasma took the helm, in his sixties, of a newly born Macao university — and over a decade carried it from a fledgling school into one of Macao's largest private comprehensive universities.

Xu Ao'ao is the 2nd President of the Macau University of Science and Technology (2002–2012), an astronomer and higher-education leader. His scholarly roots are in the astronomy department of Nanjing University, while the peak of his administrative career was his decade as president of MUST — the first modern comprehensive university founded in Macao after the Handover.

Profile

• Chinese Name: 許敖敖
• English Name: Xu Ao'ao
• Born: 1940 (Changzhou, Jiangsu)
• Domains: Academia
• Industry: Higher education · Astronomy (solar / space / plasma physics)
• Subject type: Academic (former President of MUST)
• Education: Astronomy department, Nanjing University (graduated 1962)
• Presidency: 2002–2012

Background

Xu was born in 1940 in Changzhou, Jiangsu. He graduated from the astronomy department of Nanjing University in 1962 and stayed on to teach, conducting research for decades in solar physics, space physics, and plasma physics. At Nanjing University he rose from teacher to professor and doctoral supervisor in astronomy, and entered university administration as provost and then vice-president. This track — a scholar-administrator at a top research university — formed the professional foundation he brought to Macao.

Career

I. Nanjing University: astronomer and academic administrator (1962–2002)

Xu taught at Nanjing University for four decades, with research focused on solar and space plasma physics and the supervision of astronomy doctoral students. As Nanjing University's provost and vice-president, he became thoroughly familiar with the teaching administration, disciplinary development, and operations of a research university — exactly the experience a new university most needs in its founding years.