Zhu Qingshi is a physical chemist, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and member of the Third World Academy of Sciences.

He was the President of the University of Science and Technology from 1998 to 2008, and then he became, in September 2009, the Founding President of South University of Science and Technology of China (SUSTC) at Shenzhen.

In his career as a renowned higher education leader in China, Zhu has been committed to developing a world-class research university and cultivating innovative talents.

After taking the helm of SUSTC, he has advocated enlivening the university ideas of academic excellence, academic freedom and self-regulation of scholars.

Under his leadership, the new university upholds the central position of academic work within the university, experiments on mechanisms for innovative interdisciplinary work, and steadily makes progress with lawmaking for the governance of a modern university.