Fudan University bestows awards on top management talent

Five Chinese scholars and entrepreneurs who have made contributions to management science received awards from the Fudan University Management Award Foundation on Friday.

The foundation was launched in 2005 to honor those who have made outstanding achievements in the field of management in China.

Xu Qingrui, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor at the School of Management at Zhejiang University, won this year's lifetime achievement award.

Xu was one of the first people in China to propose the idea that enterprises lie at the core of technological innovation and the theoretical system of technological innovation management with Chinese characteristics, according to Fudan University.

Xu, who specializes in the application of technology innovation in sustainable development, business management and education management, once led his team to conduct practical, in-depth research on Chinese companies, including at an oxygenerator manufacturing factory in Zhejiang province's Hangzhou city. Xu has also contributed to the development of majors at Zhejiang University that cultivate creative talent.

Li Yijun, a professor in economics and management at the Harbin Institute of Technology in Heilongjiang province, received the Fudan prize for eminent contributions to management science for his achievements in management system construction.

Li has been devoted to exploring theories and methods of supporting enterprise production management. By integrating data processing technology and management models, he led the country in the research of system optimization methods used for market forecasting in enterprises to allocate resources.

This award was shared with Zeng Dajun, a researcher at the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zhang Wei, a professor from Tianjin University.

Zeng has been honored for his contribution to solving challenges in fields such as e-commerce, social security, public health and emergency management, through the use of big data analysis and artificial intelligence. Zhang, on the other hand, has been lauded for his role in the creation of standardized procedures and mathematical models used in the application of real option games in finance.

Cao Dewang, founder of Fuyao Glass Industry Group, based in Fujian province, won the prize for eminent contributions to business management. Cao, who has worked in the automotive glass manufacturing industry for over 30 years, is being credited for introducing forward-looking management systems, such as having an independent, nonexecutive director to supervise companies.

According to Fudan University, the foundation Cao established in 2010 has donated 3.4 billion yuan ($530 million) to support domestic education, poverty alleviation, disaster recovery and scientific research.

"We will improve the selection mechanisms for the awards and aim to drive the long-term development of management science and talent cultivation, as well as share the essence of management insights in China with the outside world," said Jiao Yang, Party secretary of Fudan and chairman of Fudan University Management Award Foundation, at the awards ceremony.