Jian Huang
Hall of Fame Class of 2019
Jian Huang has made significant contributions to adult and continuing education in China and internationally by increasing the scope of Chinese research, promoting adult and continuing education, making visible contributions to the local and national societal transformation in China, as well as influencing Chinese national policies and legislation on adult education.
Her research focuses primarily on adult learning theories, work-related learning and human resource development, professional development for adult educators, graduate education and comparative studies in adult and continuing education, and learning city construction.
She is regarded throughout China for her academic leadership. Since 2006, she has led two national platforms for all Chinese universities that run a graduate program in adult and continuing education, serving as both the vice president of the Academic Committee and chairperson of the Research Committee on Adult Higher Education in China’s Adult Education Association.
Huang has been the director of the Executive Development Programs Center of East China Normal University since 2012 and has made special contributions in the practical field of training and development. She was part of drafting three national standards for adult education and training services, led the team to develop professional standards for lifelong education practitioners in Shanghai, and carried out capacity-building activities for hundreds of adult educators, which had a wide impact on the professionalization of the field.
Under her leadership, the EDP center has also undertaken the induction training for new faculty members from Shanghai's colleges and universities since 2013. Since 2018, the center has been recommended by the Ministry of Education and authorized as a national base for professional continuing education and training by the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Security.
Huang was the founding professor of the first graduate program in Human Resource Development in China at ECNU, after serving as a U.S. Fulbright Advanced Scholar in 2008. As the founding Deputy President of Shanghai Municipal Institute of Lifelong Education (SMILE), she expanded her influence on community-based learning of older people and learning city construction in the background of rapid urbanization in China. As a consultant professor for Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), she contributes her expertise in graduate program development and capacity-building for young scholars.
Huang has led more than 30 provincial and national-level notable research projects, published 140 books and papers, and overseen more than 100 master’s and Ph.D. students. She has made important contributions to international exchanges and cooperation in adult education, as well as in the mobility of Ph.D. and master’s students, exploring the possible approaches for learning from each other in the East and the West. Based on her continuous efforts, she has won the National Award of Contribution to Adult Education.
She currently serves as director of the Research Center for Human Resource Development and director of the Executive Development Programs Center at ECNU, vice director of the Academic Committee and chairperson of the Research Committee of Adult Higher Education in China’s Adult Education Association, director of the Academic Committee of the Shanghai Lifelong Education Research Association and as member of the Advisory Committee of the International Conferences on Researching Work and Learning.