Professor Yang is the founding director of Bryant University’s U.S.-China Institute (2005- ) and the Confucius Institute (2007- ) and was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in 2009. He was appointed as Charles J. Smiley Chair Professor in 2010. Professor Yang is also a research professor at the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Yale University and a visiting professor at three Chinese universities and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Professor Hong Yang received his bachelor's and master’s degrees from the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan (BA) and in Beijing (MS), and his Ph.D. from the University of Idaho. Prior to joining Bryant faculty, he was an Alfred P. Sloan Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Wayne State University. He also received executive development certificates from Graduate School of Education at Harvard University (2009) and Business School of Stanford University (2014).

Professor Yang’s research group is focused on molecular investigations of modern and ancient organisms, global climate changes, and anthropogenic alternation of physical environments. This involves a range of approaches from fieldwork on extraordinary fossils to laboratory experiments on molecular, organic geochemical, and stable isotopic investigations. Dr. Yang has published over 70 peer reviewed scientific journal articles and is a co-editor of three recent books (“The Geobiology and Ecology of Metasequoia” Springer, 2005, “Metasequoia: Back from the Brink?” Yale University, 2007, “Metasequoia: The Legacy of Dr. Shigeru Miki” Japanese Association of Historical Botany, 2011). Dr. Yang has received 21 scientific awards, honors, and recognitions, including the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Award. He has received Bryant University’s Research and Publication Award twice in 2001 and 2009.

Professor was awarded Bryant University’s “Distinguished Faculty Award” in 2006. The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations selected him as a national Public Intellectual Fellow for the years of 2005-2007. Association for International Education Administrators (AIEA) awarded him the 2014 Neal Presidential Fellowship Award. Professor Yang was named Bryant’s Vice President for International Affairs in 2012.