Professor Hu Shuli Awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree from Princeton University

Source: School of Communication and Design
Written by: School of Communication and Design
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

Professor Hu Shuli, from the School of Communication and Design, Sun-Yat sen university, was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Princeton University in New Jersey on May 31, 2016. Professor Hu is also the Editor-in-Chief of Caixin Media Co. Ltd. She was the dean of the School of Communication and Design from 2009 to 2014, and now is the the Chairman of the Academic Committee of the School.

In their citation, Princeton University praised Hu for her achievements in investigative journalism and her active role in pushing for reform and social progress. 

"She has pressed for accountability with a balance of daring and deftness that has kept her in the forefront of her field while earning the respect of the leaders of the institutions she exposes," the university said in its citation. "She is now head of her own media company, a Forbes 'Power Woman' who is a powerful advocate for transparency and truth."

Professor Hu Shuli with former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke
 

Hu was given an honorary Doctor of Laws degree along with former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and Bryan Stevenson, a public-interest lawyer and a professor of clinical law at New York University School of Law. Two other scholars – Eric Foner, the DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University who specializes in American history studies and Froma Zeitlin, the Ewing Professor of Greek Language and Literature – received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Robert Rivers, a retired surgeon and first African American board director at Princeton University, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.

Hu received her certificate from Princeton's President Christopher L. Eisgrubeand at the 269th commencement event on the front lawn of the historic Nassau Hall attended by more than 2,000 graduates and teaching staff.

Princeton University, founded in 1746, is an Ivy League university in the United States. Recipients of honorary degrees in the past fifty years include Nobel Laureates Lee Tsung-dao and Yang Chen-ning (Franklin), renowned physicists Stephen Hawking and Wu Chien-Shiung as well as American economist Lawrence H. Summers, Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami and Cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Hu is the second Chinese national born on the mainland to receive the honor after physicist Zhou Peiyuan (then the President of Peking University), who was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1980.

Bio of Professor Hu Shuli

Professor Hu Shuli is a professor at the School of Communication and Design at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong, China. She was the Dean of the School from 2009 to 2014. She is now a PhD advisor, and the Chairman of the Academic Committee of the School. She is also the Editor-in-chief of Caixin Media Co. Ltd. 

Professor Hu created Caijing magazine in 1998 and was the Editor till 2009. Before Caijing, she was a reporter and international editor at the Worker's Daily. She joined China Business Times in 1992 as international editor and became chief reporter in 1995. In 2009, she left Caijing and created Caixin Media Co. Ltd. 

Professor Hu got a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Renmin University of China in 1982. In 1994, she got the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship from Stanford University and studied development economics there. In 2006 she was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Princeton University.

Professor Hu has gained international recognition for her achievements in journalism. In 2001, she was named one of the "50 Stars of Asia" by Business Week. In 2003, she won the "International Editor of the Year" award from World Press Review. In 2006, she was named "The Most Powerful Commentators in China" by Financial Times, and was named one of "The Ten Women to Watch in Asia" by The Wall Street Journal. In 2007, she received the Louis Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University. In 2010, she was named one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy. In 2011, she was named one of the TIME 100 Influential People by Time magazine, and the Caixin editorial team won the Shorenstein Journalism Award from Stanford University's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. In 2012, she won Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and in 2014, she won the 2014 Ramon Magsaysay Award.