China-SFSU Forum: Featured Guests & Speakers

President
Kenny and Maria C. Chin Foundation

Kenny Chin is the president of the Kenny and Maria C. Chin Family Foundation. Mr. Chin previously served as president and owner of Honway International, a privately held import/export business he founded in 1987. Mr. Chin earned his MA at San  Francisco State University in Political Science in 1978. He later earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from UC Berkeley in 1986. Mr. Chin’s dissertation focused on China's open door to foreign investments.

Mr. Chin is a lifelong learner influenced by his academic and personal study of politics, philosophy, international relations, and business both in the United States and in China. Mr. Chin has a deep interest in studying Chinese approaches to politics and philosophy. He is particularly intrigued by China’s Belt & Road Initiative, its impact on developing nations, and the use of soft power as a foreign policy alternative to military action. Mr. Chin is also interested in exploring how Chinese philosophy could positively impact the development of individual and communal ethics.

Associate Professor of International Relations
San Francisco State University

See Won Byun is an Associate Professor of International Relations at SFSU whose research and teaching focus on the politics of China, international relations of East Asia, and international relations theory.  Her research examines China’s political economy and global integration, interdependence and security in Asia, and national identity politics in Asian relations.  She received a Ph.D. in Political Science and M.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University

Vice President of Claris FileMaker Platform Engineering
Apple

Lucy Chen is Vice President of Platform Engineering at Claris, which is an Apple company. Lucy aligns business strategies with talent and technology. Lucy oversees global engineering teams in the AI transformation, from research and development to the delivery of complete products across all languages. As the GM of FileMaker China, she has 10 years of expat experience, setting up Beijing operations for R&D, Sales, and Marketing. A Silicon Valley veteran, Lucy was named one of the Top 50 Women in Technology in 2021.  Lucy is the author of Pathfinder: A Guide to a Successful Career for First-Generation Immigrants and has served as the instructor for “Doing Business in China” and “International Business Negotiation” along with other courses at SFSU. She earned her Master of Education and Master of Science Management of Information Science at Seattle Pacific University.

Author
The Fragile Dragon

Executive in Residence
University of San Francisco
 

Ker Gibbs has worked in Asia and Silicon Valley for more than three decades in both tech and finance for such companies as Boston Consulting Group, Apple, and HSBC.  He served as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, where he focused on US-China relations and business issues facing American companies operating in Asia. He has written two books, Selling to China and, more recently, The Fragile Dragon.  He is currently a Partner at Foresight, an Advisor to K2X, and an Executive-in-Residence at USF.  Mr. Gibbs earned his MBA from UC Berkeley.

Adjunct Faculty of Global Business and Decision Intelligence
San Francisco State University
 

Jingmei Li has 27 years of HR experience in high-tech companies in US. She has worked for PWC, Oracle and Applied Materials.  She is currently an adjunct professor in the Global Business and Decision Intelligence program at SFSU, where she teaches the “Doing Business in China” course.  She earned her MBA in Finance from the University of South Florida.

Professor of Modern Languages and Literature
San Francisco State University
 

Wenchao Li is an educator, translator, and linguist. He is currently a Professor of Linguistics at San Francisco State University. He has authored books on language, translated Chinese literature, and explores language trends on his YouTube channel, drawing on insights from translation studies and linguistic theory. He earned his doctorate in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology at the University of Oxford and worked as a producer and news translator for the BBC World Service.

Adjunct Professor of Asia Pacific Studies
University of San Francisco
 

Andrea Lingenfelter is a poet, award-winning translator, and scholar of contemporary Chinese poetry and fiction. She has taught at UC Davis and the University of San Francisco. She is currently translating Zhai Yongming's thirty-one part ekphrastic poem "Following Huang Gongwang Through the Fuchun Mountains."   Prof. Lingenfelter received her doctorate in East Asian Languages and Literature from the University of Washington.

Associate Professor of Economics; Director of Master of Science Program in International and Development Economics
University of San Francisco
 

Peter Lorentzen is the Director of the Master of Science Program in International and Development Economics at USF.  Prof. Lorentzen founded the MS in Applied Economics program at USF, where he is an Associate Professor, and he co-founded the USF-Stanford Bay Area Tech Economics Seminar.  His research concerns the economics of information, incentives, and institutions, primarily as applied to the development and governance of China.  He earned his PhD in Economic Analysis and Policy from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Associate Professor of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
University of San Francisco
 

Dr. both the Center for Asia Pacific Studies and the Asian Studies program, as well as Co-Director of the Asian Pacific American Studies Program at USF.  She earned her doctorate in East Asian Languages and Literature at Yale University.

Professor of International Relations
San Francisco State University
 

Mahmood Monshipouri is a professor of International Relations at SSU, specializing in human rights, international relations and Middle Eastern Studies.  Prof. Monshipouri teaches several courses in international relations, including the Middle and North Africa in International Relations, the Persian Gulf in International Relations, Theory and Application in International Relations, and Introduction to World Affairs.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.

Assistant Professor of Political Science under the School of Business and Social Sciences
International University of Grand Bassam

Visiting Scholar of International Relations
San Francisco State University
 

Jean Tompihe is a visiting scholar at the Department of International Relations at SFSU.  He hails from Côte d’Ivoire, where he holds an assistant professorship at the International University of Grand-Bassam. He specializes in Comparative Politics & Research Methods, with a focus on African Political Economy-related State Weakness, Development, and Democratization.  Prof. Tompile holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Politics and Research Methods from UCLA. 

Chief Strategy Officer
SunCar Technology Group
 

Breaux Walker is an experienced GM, Business Development, and Corporate Development Executive who has recently executed an IPO and several large strategic investment transactions. He has deep knowledge of AI and blockchain/crypto technology and ecosystems, and robotics.  Mr. Walker is fluent in Mandarin and earned his BA from Wesleyan University.

Associate Professor of Global Business and Decision Intelligence
San Francisco State University
 

Yabing Zhao is an associate professor of Global Business and Decision Intelligence at SFSU.  She teaches a variety of forecasting, operations management, and supply chain management courses.  Her current research interests include supply chain relationships and performance, sustainability, and service operations management. She obtained her doctorate in Operations Management at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

YF Chang in International Business; Professor of Global Business and Decision Intelligence
San Francisco State University

Susan Cholette, Ph.D., is Professor of Global Business and Decision Intelligence at San Francisco State University’s Lam Family College of Business, where she teaches courses in operations, supply chain management, and project management. Her research focuses on supply chain efficiency and sustainability, with particular expertise in the food and beverage sectors and sustainable distribution systems.

Prior to joining academia, Prof. Cholette worked in supply chain consulting and project management, experience she continues to integrate into her teaching and research. She has published extensively across operations, supply chain, sustainability, and business journals and has been active in initiatives promoting greener supply chains and sustainable packaging. Prof. Cholette earned her Ph.D. in Operations Research from Stanford University and her B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University.

Professor and Chair of International Relations Department
San Francisco State University

Burcu Akan Ellis, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of the Department of International Relations at San Francisco State University. Her teaching and research focus on international relations theory, migration, Muslim societies, and the formation of identity, with particular expertise in the Balkans and Southeast Europe.

Prof. Ellis is the author of Shadow Genealogies: Memory and Identity among Urban Muslims in Macedonia and Catapulted: Youth Migration and the Making of a Skilled Young Albanian Diaspora. Her scholarship examines the intersections of migration, identity, mobility, and social change, particularly among Albanian, Turkish, and Muslim communities. She earned her Ph.D. in International Relations from American University’s School of International Service and her B.A. in International Relations from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey.

Professor and Chair of Modern Languages and Literatures
San Francisco State University

Frederik H. Green, Ph.D., is Professor of Chinese and Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at San Francisco State University, where he also serves as an academic advisor for the Chinese Flagship Program. His teaching spans Chinese literature, language, culture, and cinema at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Prof. Green’s interdisciplinary research encompasses Qing-dynasty poetry and visual arts, modern Chinese literature, Sino-Japanese relations, and contemporary cinema from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and is the author of Bird Talk and Other Stories by Xu Xu: Modern Tales of a Chinese Romantic. Prof. Green earned his B.A. in Chinese from Cambridge University and his Ph.D. in Chinese Literature from Yale University, with additional study and research conducted in Japan, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan.