QIFA ZHANG
National Key laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement
Huazhong Agricultural University
Wuhan 430070, China
Phone: 86-27-87282429/Fax: 86-27-87287092
Email: qifazh@mail.hzau.edu.cn
Sex: Male
Date and Place of Birth: December 19, 1953; Hubei, China.
Education:
- B. S. Agronomy, August 1976, Huazhong Agricultural College, China.
- Ph. D. Genetics, June 1985, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
- Post-doctoral fellow, July, 1985–July, 1986, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
Positions held:
| 1976-1982 | Assistant teacher, Huazhong Agricultural College. |
| 1987 | Associate professor, Huazhong Agricultural University. |
| 1987-1994 | Director, Biotechnology Center, Huazhong Agricultural University. |
| 1991 | Professor, Huazhong Agricultural University. |
| 1992-1999 | Associate Director, National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement at Huazhong Agricultural University. |
| 1994-1998 | Adjunct Professor, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA. |
| 1994-2013 | Dean, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University. |
| 1998-2001 | Guest Professor, China Agricultural University, Beijing. |
| 1999-2016 | Director, National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement. |
| 2002- | Director, National Center of Crop Molecular Breeding. |
| 2002- | Director, National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan). |
| 2021- | Director, Hubei Hongshan Laboratory (Wuhan). |
Services in scientific committees:
| 1990-1995 | Member, Science and Technology Advisory Committee of Hubei Province. |
| 1991-1994 | Member, Expert Committee of The China National Program on Plant and Animal Biotechnology. |
| 1992-1995 | Member, Scientific Board of The China Rice Genome Project. |
| 1992-1995 | Member, Biotechnology Advisory Committee, Ministry of Agriculture, China. |
| 1993-2001 | Member, Oversight Committee of McKnight Foundation’s International Programs in Plant Biology. |
| 1995-1999 | Member, Science Advisory Committee of the Rockefeller Foundation’s International Program on Rice Biotechnology. |
| 1996-2000 | Member, Steering Committee of the Asian Rice Biotechnology Network. |
| 1996-1998 | Panel member, Life Science, National Natural Science Foundation of China. |
| 1997-1998 | Member, Expert Committee of Biotechnology, Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). |
| 1997- | Chair, Group of Basic Biology, Oversight Committee of Higher Agricultural Education in China. |
| 1997-2006 | Chair, Biology Group II, the Academic Degree Committee of State Council of PRC. |
| 1998-2000 | Member, Consultative Group, Life Science, National Natural Science Foundation of China. |
| 1999-2000 | Chairman, Steering Committee of the Asian Rice Biotechnology Network. |
| 1998-2003 | Member, Committee of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture of PRC. |
| 2002- | Chairman, the Oversight Committee, The National Base for Training of Talents in Biological Sciences and Technology, the Ministry of Education of China. |
| 2003- | Member, Committee for TWAS Prize in Agricultural Sciences. |
| 2005- | Scientific Advisor, International Foundation for Sciences, Sweden. |
| 2006- | Member, Project Advisory Committee of HarvstPlus. |
| 2011-2012 | Member, Advisory Committee, National Program on Basic Research. |
Services in editorial boards
- Journal of Huazhong Agricultural University
- Euphytica (1995-2003)
- Journal of Agricultural Biotechnology
- Acta Botanica Sinica (Advisory Board)
- Acta Genetica Sinica (Advisory Board)
- Acta Agronomica Sinica (1995-)
- Plant Breeding (2000-2005)
- Theoretical and Applied Genetics (2001-2016)
- Science in China (2003-2008)
- Plant Physiology and Biochemistry (Advisory Board, 2001-)
- Current Opinion in Plant Biology (2008-)
- BMC Genomics (2008-2012)
- Molecular Plant (2008-, advisory board)
- Rice (2008-, advisory board)
- Annual Review of Plant Biology (2011-2015)
- Plant Biotechnology Journal (2012-2014)
Organization of scientific conferences
- Chairman, Plant Genomics in China I- (an annual meeting series starting 2000)
- Chairman, International Symposium on Genomics and Crop Genetic Improvement (meeting series) (Wuhan, 2002, 2010)
- Chairman, First International Symposium on Rice Functional Genomics (Shanghai, 2003)
- Chairman, 13th International Symposium on Rice Functional Genomics (Wuhan, 2015)
- President, 11th International Congress of Plant Molecular Biology (Iguazu, Brazil, 2015)
Grant review and panels
- National Science Foundation (USA)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
- Israel Science Foundation
- International Foundation for Science (Sweden)
- Netherlands Organization for Scientific research (ALW)
Honors and awards:
| 1987 | Award for reformation of teaching materials and methods, Huazhong Agricultural University. |
| 1988 | Award for quality teaching, Huazhong Agricultural University. |
| 1988 | New Stars in Science and Technology named by Association of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. |
| 1989 | Award for quality teaching, Huazhong Agricultural University. Best Young Scientists in Hubei Province named by Hubei Provincial Government, China. |
| 1990 | Biotechnology Career Fellowship Award, The Rockefeller Foundation. |
| 1991 | Award for Outstanding Contributions to Higher Education in China, the State Council of PRC. |
| 1992 | Outstanding Scientist, awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture of PRC. |
| 1993 | King Baudouin Prize, awarded by the International Foundation for Science, Sweden. |
| 1994 | Outstanding Scientist, awarded by the Ministry of Personnel of PRC. |
| 1995 | Distinguished Young Investigator Award, by Chinese National Natural Science Foundation. |
| 1996 | A Prize for Significant Contributions to the National High Technology Research Program, awarded by the Commission of Science and Technology of PRC. |
| 1997 | Superior Returning Scientist from Overseas, awarded jointly by the Ministry of Personnel and Education Commission of PRC. |
| 1997 | Award for Significant Contributions to Agricultural Science in China, by the China Foundation for Agricultural Science and Education. |
| 1998 | Young Scientist of China, awarded jointly by the Central Committee of Chinese Youth League, the Organizing Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Science and Technology. |
| 1999 | Cheung Kong Professor, awarded by the Cheung Kong Scholars Program, The Ministry of Education, PRC. |
| 1999 | Election as an Academician, the Chinese Academy of Sciences. |
| 2000 | Election as a Fellow, the Third World Academy of Sciences. |
| 2002 | First Award in Natural Science, Hubei Provincial Government. |
| 2003 | First Award in Natural Science, Hubei Provincial Government. |
| 2003 | Award for Advancement in Science and Technology, Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation (Hong Kong). |
| 2005 | Cal Aggie Alumni Association Emil M. International Award, University of California, Davis. |
| 2007 | Election as a Foreign Associate, The National Academy of Sciences, USA. |
| 2007 | First Award in Natural Science, Hubei Provincial Government. |
| 2008 | Distinguished Career Award in Science and Technology, Hubei Provincial Government. |
| 2012 | Outstanding Scientist Award, International Society of Crop Science. |
| 2015 | First Award in Natural Science, Hubei Provincial Government. |
Membership in Academic Societies
- China Association of Science and Technology (Vice Chairman, 2001-2011)
- China Association of Agricultural Science Societies (Vice President, 2002-)
- Genetics Society of China (Vice President, 2002-2010)
- Agro-Biotechnology Society of China
- Chinese Society of Botany
- Chinese Society of Bioengineering
- American Society of Plant Biologists
- International Plant Molecular Biology Society (President elect, Board of Directors, 2012-2015; President 2015-2018)
- International Rice Genetics Cooperative (Member of Standing Committee)