Huajian Gao

Professor Huajian Gao is currently the Xinghua Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Mechano-X Institute at Tsinghua University, as well as the Walter H. Annenberg Professor Emeritus of Engineering at Brown University. He earned his B.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Xi'an Jiaotong University in 1982 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Engineering Science from Harvard in 1984 and 1988, respectively. He served on the faculty of Stanford University from 1988 to 2002, followed by appointments as Director at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research (2001–2006), Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Engineering at Brown University (2006–2019), and Distinguished University Professor at Nanyang Technological University (2019–2024). Professor Gao's research focuses on the understanding of fundamental principles that govern the mechanical properties of materials in both engineering and biological systems. His accolades include elections as Fellow of the Royal Society and memberships in U.