Xu Zhihong, born in Wuxi, Jiangsu in October 1942, is a plant physiologist. He is the Dean of Peking University School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, professor of Peking University School of Life Sciences, and researcher of Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He was the former Chairman of the Chinese Society for Plant Biology, Chairman of the Chinese Society for Cell Biology, Vice Chairman of the Botanical Society of China, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Society of Biotechnology, and Chairman of the International Association for Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology. He once served as a member of the National Education Advisory Committee and has long been an expert consultant in the agricultural sector of the National Basic Research Program (973) of the Ministry of Science and Technology. He is currently the Chairman of the Chinese National Committee of UNESCO Human and the Biosphere Committee, member of the Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the director of the Advisory Board of the China Botanical Garden Alliance. He has long engaged in plant development biology and plant bioengineering research, technology and education management.

Experience:

● 1959.9 -1965.9, majoring in botany in the Department of Biology, Peking University; finishing postgraduate at Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and staying at the Institute after graduation;

● 1979.8-1981.9, successively working as a researcher at the John Innes Institute in the United Kingdom and the Department of Botany at the University of Nottingham;

● 1983.12-1988.10, serving as an Associate Research Fellow and Deputy Director of Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology;

● 1988.11-1991.2, serving as Researcher and Deputy Director of Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, and Director of the National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics;

● 1991.2-1993.10, serving as the Director of Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology;

● 1992.10-2003.2, serving as the Deputy Dean of the Chinese Academy of Sciences;

● 1999.11-2008.11, serving as the President of Peking University.

He was awarded the title of "Young and middle-aged scientists with outstanding contributions " in 1998; First Prize of Natural Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1990; the Third Prize of National Natural Science Award in 1991. He has obtained honorary doctorate degrees from Waseda University in Japan, McGill University and University of Montreal in Canada, University of Melbourne in Australia, University of Nottingham, University of Edinburgh and University of East Anglia in the UK. Since April 2018, he has been the Chairman of the Academic Committee of the Department of History of Science, Technology and Medicine, Peking University.