Dr. Yong Zhao is an internationally recognized education scholar, author, and professor whose work explores how schools can better prepare students for a rapidly changing world.
Dr. Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas and co-founder of the university’s Center for Reimagining Education. His research focuses on the impact of technology, globalization, creativity, entrepreneurship, and education policy on how students learn and how schools should evolve. He is also a professorial fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy at Victoria University in Australia. (Achievement & Assessment Institute)
Throughout his career, Dr. Zhao has worked with educators, schools, governments, and organizations around the world to rethink traditional approaches to education. He has published more than 100 articles and around 30 books, including World Class Learners, Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon?, Counting What Counts, and Never Send a Human to Do a Machine’s Job. (Achievement & Assessment Institute)
A major theme of Dr. Zhao’s work is the idea that education should do more than prepare students to take tests. He encourages schools to help young people develop their individual strengths, creativity, curiosity, confidence, and ability to create value for others.
Dr. Zhao earned his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has held leadership and faculty positions at universities including the University of Oregon and Michigan State University. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the International Academy of Education. (Distinguished Professors)
For students, Dr. Zhao’s work offers an important message: success does not require everyone to follow the same path. Understanding what makes you unique, continuing to learn, and finding ways to use your strengths can be just as important as traditional measures of achievement.
