42 Notable alumni of
Beijing Normal University
Updated:
Beijing Normal University is 819th in the world, 171st in Asia, and 17th in China by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 42 notable alumni from Beijing Normal University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Liu Xiaobo
- Enrolled in Beijing Normal University
- 1982-1984 graduated with Master of Arts
- 1986-1988 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in literary studies
- Occupations
- literary criticpoethuman rights activistwriter
- Biography
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Liu Xiaobo was a Chinese literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end communist one-party rule in China. He was arrested numerous times, and was described as China's most prominent dissident and the country's most famous political prisoner. On 26 June 2017, he was granted medical parole after being diagnosed with liver cancer; he died a few weeks later on 13 July 2017.
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Chai Ling
- Occupations
- human rights activistbusinessperson
- Biography
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Chai Ling is a Chinese psychologist and businesswoman who was one of the student leaders in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. She was a representative of the hardline faction of the protest movement and according to a documentary, Gate of Heavenly Peace, she had indicated that the strategy of the leadership group she dominated was to provoke the Government to use violence against the unarmed students. Comments that she made to that effect in an interview later formed the basis of two lawsuits. She had also claimed to have witnessed soldiers killing student protesters inside Tiananmen Square.
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Mo Yan
- Occupations
- novelistwriterscreenwriterteacher
- Biography
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Guan Moye, better known by the pen name Mo Yan, is a Chinese novelist and short story writer. Donald Morrison of U.S. news magazine TIME referred to him as "one of the most famous, oft-banned and widely pirated of all Chinese writers", and Jim Leach called him the Chinese answer to Franz Kafka or Joseph Heller. In 2012, Mo was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his work as a writer "who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary".
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Wu'erkaixi
- Occupations
- dissidentpoliticianopinion journalisthuman rights activistpundit
- Biography
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Örkesh Dölet is a political commentator known for his leading role during the Tiananmen protests of 1989.
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Timothy Geithner
- Occupations
- bankerpoliticianeconomist
- Biography
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Timothy Franz Geithner is an American former central banker who served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. He was the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 2003 to 2009, following service in the Clinton administration. Since March 2014, he has served as president and managing director of Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm headquartered in New York City.
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Lang Ping
- Occupations
- beach volleyball playervolleyball coachvolleyball player
- Biography
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"Jenny" Lang Ping is a Chinese former volleyball player and coach. She is the former head coach of the Chinese women's national volleyball team and U.S. women's national volleyball team. As a player, Lang won the most valuable player award in women's volleyball at the 1984 Olympics.
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Lao She
- Occupations
- writerpoliticianuniversity teacherplaywrightscience fiction writer
- Biography
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Shu Qingchun, known by his pen name Lao She, was a Chinese novelist and dramatist. He was a writer of 20th-century Chinese literature, known for his novel Rickshaw Boy and the play Teahouse (茶馆). He was of Manchu ethnicity, and his works are known for their vivid use of the Beijing dialect.
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Pan Yueming
- Occupations
- television actoractor
- Biography
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Pan Yueming is a Chinese actor. Pan is noted for his roles as Tai Lin in the film A Love of Blueness, and as twin brothers Guan Hongfeng and Guan Hongyu on the Chinese web series Day and Night.
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Li Min
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Li Min, original name Mao Jiaojiao (Chinese: 毛姣姣; pinyin: Máo Jiāojiāo), is a former Chinese politician who was the daughter of Mao Zedong and his third wife, He Zizhen. Her surname is Li rather than Mao, because Mao had changed his name to "Li Desheng" (simplified Chinese: 李德胜; traditional Chinese: 李德勝; pinyin: Lǐ Déshèng) for a period of time to prevent himself from being chased by the Kuomintang army during the Chinese Civil War.
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Ye Qun
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ye Qun was the wife of Lin Biao, the Vice Chairman of Chinese Communist Party who controlled China's military power along with Chairman Mao Zedong. She was mostly known for taking care of politics for her husband. Ye was a member of the 9th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. She died with Lin Biao and their son Lin Liguo in a plane crash over Mongolia on September 13, 1971. They also had a daughter, Lin Liheng (Doudou), who was not on the airplane.
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Yang Jianli
- Occupations
- human rights activist
- Biography
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Yang Jianli is a Chinese dissident with a United States residency. He is the son of a Communist Party leader. Yang was detained in China in 2002 and was released in 2007. He now lives in the United States, where he is a human rights activist.
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Qigong
- Occupations
- painterhistorianart historian
- Biography
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Qigong was a renowned Chinese calligrapher, artist, painter, connoisseur and sinologist. He was an advisor for the September 3 Society, one of China's minor political parties.
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Xu Guangping
- Occupations
- politicianwriter
- Biography
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Xu Guangping, courtesy name Shuyuan (simplified Chinese: 漱园; traditional Chinese: 漱園), infant name Xia (simplified Chinese: 霞; traditional name: 霞), was a Chinese female writer, politician, and social activist. She was well known as the partner of Chinese writer Lu Xun.
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Wang Meng
- Occupations
- politiciantranslatorwriter
- Biography
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Wang Meng is a Chinese writer who served as China's Minister of Culture from 1986 to 1989.
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Huang Xianfan
- Occupations
- ethnologistuniversity teacherhistoriananthropologistpolitician
- Biography
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Huang Xianfan was a Zhuang Chinese historian, ethnologist and educator.
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Xie Jun
- Occupations
- politicianchess player
- Biography
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Xie Jun is a Chinese chess grandmaster and is the first Asian female to become a chess grandmaster. She had two separate reigns as Women's World Chess Champion, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 1999 to 2001. Xie is one of three women to have at least two separate reigns, besides Elisaveta Bykova and Hou Yifan. Xie Jun is the current president of the Chinese Chess Association. In 2019, she was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame.
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Chen Yibing
- Occupations
- artistic gymnast
- Biography
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Chen Yibing is a Chinese gymnast, a four-time world champion on still rings. Chen was part of the Chinese team that won the gold medal in the team event at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011 (no team competition in 2005 and 2009) and the Asian Games in 2006 and 2010. Since his international debut at the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, he was almost unbeatable on his specialist event, still rings, except to his teammate Yan Mingyong in 2009 and the Brazilian Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He became the 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011 world champions on still rings.
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Adora Svitak
- Enrolled in Beijing Normal University
- Studied Studies of the Chinese Language
- Occupations
- oratorwriter
- Biography
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Adora Svitak is an American writer, public speaker, former child prodigy, and activist. She did work for the Wikimedia Foundation as a communications associate.
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Zhou Xiaozhou
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Zhou Xiaozhou was a Chinese politician and communist revolutionary, who served as Communist Party Secretary of Hunan from 1953 to 1957. He committed suicide during the Cultural Revolution.
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Yuan Guiren
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Yuan Guiren is a Chinese academic and politician. He formerly served as Minister of Education of China and president of Beijing Normal University, his alma mater.
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Zhang Shenfu
- Years
- 1893-1986 (aged 93)
- Occupations
- philosopher
- Biography
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Zhang Shenfu, born Zhang Songnian (张崧年), courtesy name Shenfu (申甫), was a founder of the Chinese Communist Party, a philosopher, and a political activist. Zhang was born on June 15, 1893, in Xiaoduo village, Zhili (modern Hebei). His father, Zhang Liangong, was a senior official. In 1912, Zhang enrolled at Middle School Affiliated to Senior Normal School (高等师范学堂附属中学班) in Beiping (today Beijing). He later enrolled at Peking University to study philosophy and math in 1914. After graduating, Zhang started to lecture at Peking University, as well as assisting the work of university librarian Li Dazhao. When the Chinese Communist Party was founded by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao in the French concession of Shanghai in 1921 as a study society and informal network, Zhang organized the counterpart group in France (latter used to engage in Lyon Sino-French University after WWI) and then introduced his fiancée Liu Qingyang and friend Zhou Enlai to CCP. In 1925, due to disagreements with other representatives at the fourth congress, Zhang quit the party. After CCP won the Chinese Civil War, Zhang was employed as a researcher at the National Library with Zhou Enlai's permission. Due to his political stance, Zhang was labeled as right-wing in 1957 during the Anti-Rightist Campaign. After Mao's death and the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, he was rehabilitated. He died in 1986 at 93 years old.
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Huang Shao-ku
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomat
- Biography
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Huang Shao-ku was a Taiwanese politician. He was the Vice Premier from 1954 to 1958 and 1966 to 1969.
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Lu Shijia
- Years
- 1911-1986 (aged 75)
- Occupations
- university teacherphysicistpolitician
- Biography
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Lu Shijia, also known as Hsiu-Chen Chang-Lu, was a Chinese physicist and aerospace engineer who helped create China's first high-speed wind tunnel. She founded and chaired the aerodynamics program at Beihang University, the first in the country.
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He Yiting
- Years
- 1952-.. (age 72)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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He Yiting is a Chinese ideologist and politician. Since 2013, He has served as the executive vice president of the Central Party School (rank equivalent of minister), the top ideological indoctrination institution of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
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Hai Xia
- Occupations
- television presenternews presenter
- Biography
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Hai Xia is a Chinese news anchor for China Central Television, the main state announcer of China.
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Ying Liang
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Ying Liang is a Chinese independent film director and screenwriter.
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Shao Ting
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Shao Ting is a Chinese basketball player for the Beijing Great Wall and the Chinese national team, where she participated at the 2014 FIBA World Championship. After playing in China, Ting was an undrafted free agent for the Lynx out of her country in 2017.
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Li Sizhong
- Enrolled in Beijing Normal University
- 1948-1950 studied ichthyology
- Occupations
- taxonomistnaturalistteacherbiogeographerscience writer
- Biography
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Li Sizhong was an ichthyologist with the Institute of Zoology (中国科学院动物研究所) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Throughout his research career, he made numerous discoveries of new fish species (or subspecies), and published many books and research papers describing the fauna and geographical distribution of fishes in China and beyond. He translated and helped publication of the Chinese editions of Fishes of the World (2nd edition, by Joseph S. Nelson) and Fish Migration (a popular science book by Russian zoologist Peter Schmidt). Li was the major author of two published volumes in the Fauna Sinica monograph series, systematically reviewing and describing orders of bony fishes that include flat fish, cod, silverside, pearlfish, killifish, flying fish, etc. in or near China. He had authored at least 60 academic papers, written over 40 popular science articles about fish on Chinese newspapers and magazines, and been responsible for compiling and editing fish-related entries in several standard reference books (including Encyclopedia of China and Zhonghua Dadian). His works on freshwater ichthyofauna of China as well as other aspects of ichthyology (such as fish taxonomy, geographical distribution and habitats, and evolution) are considered to be among some of the most notable in the Chinese ichthyology literature.
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Gucheng Zhou
- Years
- 1898-1996 (aged 98)
- Occupations
- politiciansociologist
- Biography
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Zhou Gucheng was a Chinese male politician, who served as the vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
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Pu Jiexiu
- Occupations
- politicianentrepreneur
- Biography
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Pu Jiexiu was a Chinese entrepreneur and former Vice Chair of the Central Committee of the China National Democratic Construction Association.
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Ouang Te Tchao
- Occupations
- politicianphysicist
- Biography
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Wang Dezhao or Ouang Te-Tchao was a Chinese physicist who was known for his research in atmospheric electricity and underwater acoustics. Under the direction of Paul Langevin, he helped the French improve sonar at the beginning of World War II and after his return to China, Wang was considered as the founder of national defense water acoustics in China.
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Xu Lin
- Years
- 1954-.. (age 70)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Xu Lin is a Chinese vice-minister-level official serving on the State Council. She has held the post of Chief Executive and Director of the Confucius Institutes worldwide since 2004. She is Director General of the Hanban, or Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language.
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Su Bingqi
- Occupations
- archaeologist
- Biography
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Su Bingqi was a Chinese archaeologist and co-founder of Peking University's archaeology program. He was China's major archaeological theoretician for 50 years, and regarded in his later years as the paramount authority in the archaeology of China. He was best known for his "regional systems and cultural types" (区系类型) model of Chinese Neolithic cultural development, which rejected the traditional view of Chinese culture radiating from the core Central Plain region and has been widely adopted. It was further developed by Kwang-chih Chang as the Chinese Interaction Sphere model.
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Chu Tunan
- Years
- 1899-1994 (aged 95)
- Occupations
- politicianEsperantist
- Biography
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Chu Tu'nan was a Chinese male politician, who served as a vice-chairperson of the Standing Committee of the 6th National People's Congress and the chairman of the China Democratic League.
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Gao Heng
- Occupations
- philologist
- Biography
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Gao Heng was a Chinese philologist and palaeographer, known for his work on the modern interpretation of the I Ching. Among his most important accomplishments, he published a new translation of the ancient political treatise of Lord Shang with an original commentary in the (tumultuous) context of the 1970s.
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Dorje Tseten
- Years
- 1925-2013 (aged 88)
- Occupations
- politicianhistorian
- Biography
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Dorje Tseten, also Duojie Caidan (多傑才旦); November 1926, Huangzhong - July 6, 2013, Beijing) is a scholar, historian and Chinese politician of Tibetan ethnicity. He was chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) before becoming the first director of the China Tibetology Research Center.
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Liu Jianwei
- Occupations
- novelistpoliticianscreenwriter
- Biography
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Liu Jianwei, also known by his pen name Liu Shengyuan (柳盛元), is a Chinese novelist. He is best known for his novel Heroic Time which won the Mao Dun Literature Prize (2005), one of the most prestigious literature prizes in China.
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Mou Zuoyun
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Mou Zuoyun was a Chinese basketball player, coach, and pioneer, known as the "godfather of Chinese basketball". He competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics as a member of China's first Olympic basketball team, and coached the Chinese men's team at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He served as president of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and was named Lifetime Honorary President of the Asian Basketball Association. In 2005, the CBA named the championship trophy of China's professional basketball league the Mou Zuoyun Cup. In 2019, he posthumously became the first Chinese inductee to the FIBA Hall of Fame.
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Zhu Jin
- Occupations
- astronomer
- Biography
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Zhu Jin, is a Chinese astronomer. He is the current curator of Beijing Planetarium.
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Huang Dao
- Years
- 1900-1939 (aged 39)
- Biography
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Huang Dao original name Huang Duanzhang (Chinese: 黄端章), also known as Yiming (Chinese: 一鸣) was a member of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the New Fourth Army. He was born in Hengfeng County, Jiangxi Province. He was the father of Huang Zhizhen, who was governor of Hubei Province under the People's Republic of China. He fought in the Chinese Civil War on the side of the Communist Party of China, being active in northern and eastern Fujian near the border with Zhejiang. He remained in southern China after the Long March. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he was poisoned by the Kuomintang en route to southern Anhui.
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Hong-Cai Zhou
- Years
- 1964-.. (age 60)
- Occupations
- chemistresearcher
- Biography
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Hong-Cai Zhou (周宏才; born c. 1964) is a Chinese–American chemist and academic. He is the Davidson Professor of Science and Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry at Texas A&M University. He is the associate editor of the journal Inorganic Chemistry.
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Liu Yan
- Occupations
- geologist
- Biography
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Liu Yan is a Chinese Antarctic researcher best known for her work on iceberg calving. She is an associate professor of geography in the College of Global Change and Earth System Science (GCESS) and Polar Research Institute, Beijing Normal University.
