Staff Bios
Justin O’Jack, Resident Director, received his B.A. in History at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1988. He received his M.A. from the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2002, where he researched late medieval Chinese pilgrimage traditions and religious geography. Justin served as the Academic Director of a study abroad program in the city of Hangzhou for three years before joining CIEE in Shanghai in 2006. He also serves as Vice President of the Royal Asiatic Society China in Shanghai.
John W. Tai, Academic Director, is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at George Washington University, where he has researched and conducted extensive fieldwork on civil society, non-governmental organizations, public administration, and social welfare. He holds an M.A. degree in East Asian Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs from George Washington University and a B.A. degree in Political Science and History from the University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining the CIEE Study Center in fall 2009, he served as Visiting Scholar and later Associate Director of Academics for a study abroad program in Beijing. In addition to his academic experience, Tai has worked in Washington, D.C. as a foreign policy analyst.
Dr. Liao Jianling joined CIEE in the fall of 2006. In addition to her role as Academic Director of the Advanced Chinese Studies program, she is also the Chinese Language Director in charge of all Chinese language courses at the CIEE Study Center in Shanghai. Originally from Jiangxi, China, Dr. Liao completed her Ph.D. in the area of Second Language Acquisition from the University of Iowa. While studying abroad in the U.S. at the University of Iowa, she also received two M.A. degrees in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language and Instructional Design and Technology. In addition, she holds a third M.A. degree in Chinese Linguistics from Wuhan University. Her research interests include computer-assisted language learning and language pedagogy in study abroad contexts. Prior to joining CIEE, Dr. Liao taught for five years at the Middlebury College Summer Chinese School.
Additional support services are given by Zheng Huan, Program Coordinator; Yang Lihong, Student Services Coordinator; and Liu Lihua, Housing Coordinator.