About the Acting Director
Prof. Hervé Varenne is the acting director of the Center on Chinese Education. He is a Gardner Cowles Professor of Anthropology and Education and former chair of the International and Transnational Studies Department at Teachers College, Columbia University.
About the Executive Director
Dr. Henan Cheng is the executive director of the Center on Chinese Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has also been an adjunct professor in the Department of International and Transcultural Studies at Teachers College since 2012. Her primary research interests include international and comparative education, educational development and equity issues in China, especially issues related to education of ethnic minorities and children of migrants. Dr. Cheng’s publications on education of migrant children have been cited in national and international media outlets including Time Magazine, Huffington Post, Hechinger Report, and Reference News.
Dr. Cheng has extensive international and interdisciplinary experience and training. In addition to teaching and conducting research at various universities in China and the United States for 20 years, Dr. Cheng has also been actively involved in educational development work at a number of prestigious international organizations, including the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), the Yale-China Association, and Boston-based Tibet Poverty Alleviation Fund. Dr. Cheng holds degrees in automotive engineering and economics from Chongqing University and the University of International Business and Economics respectively, a master's from Boston University, and a doctorate in Comparative and International Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.