Mun C. Tsang is Professor Emeritus of Economics and Education Policy at Teachers College, Columbia University. His scholarly interests are in the areas of education finance, cost analysis in education, economic effects of education, and Chinese education development and policy. Since 2000, he has been the founding Director of the Center on Chinese Education, providing leadership in programs of research on Chinese education, training of education leaders, and education exchange between the United States and China. Since 1986, he has been a consultant on education projects and studies for a number of international agencies, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Inter-Agency Commission, and UNESCO. He received the Richard Swanson Excellence in Research Award from the American Academy of Human Resources Development in 2005, the Award for Poverty Reduction through Education from the Yunnan Education Society in 2005, the Changjiang Scholar Award from the Chinese Ministry of Education in 2006, and the International Scholar Award for Excellent Contributions to Chinese Educational Development from the Chinese Society of Education and the Chinese Association for Nongovernmental Education in 2010. He has been Changjiang Professor of Economics of Education, Peking University, China, since 2006, Honorary Professor, Beijing Normal University since 2007, Honorary Professor, South China Normal University since 2009, and Honorary Professor, Yunnan Normal University since 2012. He has been Honorary President of the Chinese Economics of Education Association since 1996. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT and his M.A. in Economics and Ph.D. in Economics of Education from Stanford University.
Dr. Henan Cheng is the deputy 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.