Vice President for International Strategy
As the vice president for international strategy, Zhanjiang (John) Liu facilitates meaningful international partnerships to create new opportunities in research, scholarship and creative work, and to drive undergraduate and graduate enrollment—both on Syracuse University’s main campus and at locations abroad.
Hired to grow the University’s research portfolio as vice president for research, Liu was later charged with strengthening and enhancing the University’s academic enterprise as interim vice chancellor and provost. He assumed his current position on June 1, 2022.
Liu guided many of the University’s commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, including a $50 million investment in faculty diversity hiring, “Future Professors Postdoctoral Fellowship” program, the First Year Seminar and creation of the Student Activism Engagement Team. With Vice Chancellor Michael Haynie and Dean Mike Frasciello, he kept the University on a path to continue to build and deliver high-quality online educational experiences for learners at all stages of life.
As vice president for research, Liu conceptualized and developed the cluster hiring program to foster interdisciplinary collaborations and make Syracuse University research most relevant to global and societal challenges. As provost, he led the program expansion into 10 key areas where Syracuse University’s research can lead the way in solving pressing problems.