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Max Lu

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Max Lu
AO DL FAA FTSE FREng FIChemE FRSC
逯高清
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Surrey
Incumbent
Assumed office
April 2016
ChancellorPrince Edward, Duke of Kent
Preceded bySir Christopher Snowden
Personal details
Born
逯高清 "Lù Gāoqīng"

(1963-11-08) 8 November 1963 (age 61)
EducationNortheastern University (B.Sc.)
University of Queensland (PhD)
OccupationChemical engineer, nanotechnologist
Salary£344,000 (2021–22)[1]

Gaoqing Max Lu AO, DL, FAA, FTSEFREng FIChemE, FRSC (Chinese: 逯高清; born 8 November 1963) is a Chinese–Australian chemical engineer[2] and nanotechnologist. He is the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of Surrey.

Early life and education

[edit]

Lu was born in the countryside of Shandong, China. He obtained his bachelor's degree in engineering from Northeastern University in Shenyang. He subsequently received a scholarship from the University of Queensland in Australia, where he earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering.[3]

Career

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Lu lectured at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore from 1991 to 1994, then held academic and leadership positions at the University of Queensland from 1994 to 2016. He began as a senior lecturer and ultimately became a chair professor. He founded the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials and served as its inaugural director for 8 years.[4] He is a fellow of many Australian educational and research boards, and has sat on several committees of its government.[5] In March 2016, Lu set aside funding for education students at the University of Queensland to be able to take pre-teacher literacy and numeracy tests paid for by the university.[6] He also contributed to a public safety campaign for Chinese tourists in Queensland.[7]

Lu was previously the Provost and Senior Vice-president at the University of Queensland,[8] and is currently the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Surrey in Guildford, a position he has held since April 2016.[9][10] He is also an emeritus professor at the University of Queensland Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.[11]

In August 2017, Professor Lu was appointed by Prime Minister Theresa May to the Council for Science and Technology.[12] By November 2017, Lu had established partnerships in his Vice-Chancellor role: one of Guildford and the University of Surrey with his hometown of Dongying, and one between the University of Surrey and a conservatoire in Sharjah, UAE.[13] The only university in Dongying is the China University of Petroleum, focused on oil mining. In 2016, Lu had affirmed that establishing links between the University of Surrey and his homeland was a priority.[14]

On his university managerial direction, Lu wrote in a 2019 University of Surrey-published blog post (about the humanities existing to support technological development) that he doesn't think the liberal arts approach of US universities is good, and that students should take degrees that are job-oriented. Though, he does acknowledge in the post that others criticise this view as making students technically qualified, but not educated.[15]

Recognitions

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United Kingdom

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Lu has been appointed to the Boards of UKRI,[16] National Physical Laboratory, Universities UK and the Leadership Council of the National Centre for Universities and Business. He was also made a deputy lieutenant of Surrey[17] and is a patron of Transform Housing & Support.[18] He has an honorary degree from the University of Strathclyde.[19] In September 2019, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.[20]

Australia

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Lu, who helped found and is a board member of the Australian Research Council (ARC), won its Federation Fellowship in both 2003 and 2008.[21][22] He has also been named among Australia's Top 100 Most Influential Engineers, in 2013,[23] being named to the Queensland Greats Award this same year.[24] In 2014, Lu was awarded an Australia-China Achievement Award for Education[25] and in 2017 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.[26][27]

International

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Lu has also been given several awards from other nations or international bodies. They are: Orica Award, 2001;[28] Le Fevre Prize, 2002;[29] RK Murphy Medal, 2003;[30] ExxonMobil Award, 2007;[28] China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award, 2011;[31] Chemeca Medal, 2011;[28] Japan Chemical Society Lecture Award, 2015;[32] and the P.V. Danckwerts Lecture, 2016.[33] He was elected a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2019.[34]

Controversies

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Dongying-Guildford twinning

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The choice to twin Guildford, the town of the University of Surrey, and Lu's hometown of Dongying, as well as Lu's involvement in the process, was a subject of controversy for Guildford council in 2017. The Guildford Alderman the Hon. Bernard Parke noted that unlike the town's previous twinning agreement, the public and council consultations had been by-passed for the partnership with Dongying.[35] Other councillors also criticised the expedience, as they had not been informed of the intentions to twin with the city and had been in talks with other potential partners for some time, plans that had to be scrapped. Lu's involvement was criticised as lacking "openness and transparency", with some councillors also asserting that "due diligence" in the approval of the city had not been performed. The council leader Paul Spooner responded by saying that he had needed to act quickly in order to travel to China with Lu, and the whole council voted not to accept financial assistance for travel costs offered by Dongying.[36]

In June 2019, Lu's connection to Liaoning was being used by the county of Surrey to push a partnership for the county with the Chinese province.[37]

Queensland salary

[edit]

In 2016, Lu's pay and bonuses at the University of Queensland, totalling AUS$736,600, came under fire in a piece discussing the university "crying poor ... [but giving] their senior executives larger and larger pay packets while doing everything in their power to squeeze the salaries of their employees"; the article noted that Lu and many of his peers earned more than the heads of government departments and business CEOs.[38]

University of Surrey

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Criticism of salary and expenses

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In 2018, Channel 4's Dispatches broadcast a report on the pay and expenses of British university officials, including revealing that Lu was given £1,600 to relocate his family dog. The University of Surrey responded by saying that this was "reasonable relocation expenses".[39] It was also reported that the university paid for Lu's membership to the elite Athenaeum Club, London, at £2,610 a year. The university claimed this was a "cost-effective" solution for Lu to have private meetings in London.[40] In an article about the documentary's findings, The Guardian listed various expenses but concluded that "Few, though, can beat the £1,600 spent on relocating a pet dog from Australia to Britain". Both the article and Robert Halfon MP compared the dog relocation expense to the "Duck Island" incident from a 2009 MP expense scandal.[41] The Spectator compared Professor Lu to the former Chinese Communist propaganda minister, Lu Wei, and said that though the relocation expense was "small change" it reflects the lack of moral authority in universities that strip lecturers of pensions and give students decades of debt.[42]

Also in the year, more controversy arose over Vice Chancellors' remuneration, with Lu among the highest paid in the UK. The university responded to the controversy by claiming that his pay had been overstated, and "insisted that the Office for Students should have stated the basic salary of [Lu] as £314,000 in 2017-18"; it had been stated as £364,000, with the Office for Students telling the Financial Times that "it was £364,000, including a £50,000 contribution to his pension".[43] Lu had taken a pay cut from his previous position in Australia when he moved to Surrey;[43] his total 2017/18 remuneration was £419,000.[44]

The controversy reappeared in early 2019, specifically for Lu, when the University of Surrey announced that they would have to fire staff because of a deficit.[45][46] The university magazine, The Stag, published an article titled 'Paygate: The Problem with Surrey's Vice-Chancellor', in which it compared his "performance-related bonuses" to the university's actual performance.[47]

Vote of no confidence

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In May 2019 and 2024,[48] the staff and students of the University of Surrey held a no confidence vote against the university management.[44] Of staff who voted, 96% gave a vote of no confidence in 2019, and 97% in 2024 in "the Vice-Chancellor and Executive Board".[49] The all-staff vote was approved by all three trade unions represented at the university, in a meeting held with the largest member attendance seen.[50] Concerns raised by staff specifically include "Lu's language which suggests staff are a cost rather than an asset", according to the University and College Union, while the Students' Union was specifically concerned about the closure of many arts courses at the university despite a "healthy" number of applications for them.[49] Students who wanted a "no" vote hoped this result would make the university management "engage with staff and students and discuss changes";[44] only one student ran the campaign supporting the management, though the debate between union students was said to hold "twinges of sympathy for Max Lu".[51]

Personal life

[edit]

Lu has children[13] and a pet Maltese dog named Oscar.[41]

In December 2018, Lu, who has previously advised the Chinese government, said that he supported the theory behind its new social policy but raised concerns over how efficiently it could be enforced.[52]

References

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  1. ^ "Financial Statements for the Year to 31 July 2022". University of Surrey. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Professor Max Lu, University of Queensland".
  3. ^ "2019年荣誉院士-逯高清教授简介及赞辞". United International College (in Chinese). 12 July 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  4. ^ "About Nanomaterials Centre - Nanomaterials Centre - The University of Queensland, Australia". nanomac.uq.edu.au. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Max Lu". Festival of Higher Education. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  6. ^ "UQ to pay teacher test fees for education students".
  7. ^ "Public safety campaign aimed at Chinese tourists".
  8. ^ "University of Surrey appoints China-born nanotechnologist as next v-c". Times Higher Education (THE). 3 December 2015. Archived from the original on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE)". atse.org.au. Archived from the original on 15 May 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  10. ^ "University of Surrey appoints Professor Max Lu as its Vice-Chancellor". University of Surrey - Guildford. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  11. ^ "University of Queensland Profile of Max Lu".
  12. ^ "New members of the Council for Science and Technology confirmed - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. 18 September 2017. Archived from the original on 19 September 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Meet the man behind the University of Surrey's drive to gain more innovative research and partnerships". Get Surrey. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  14. ^ "New University of Surrey v-c looks to China for industry links". 23 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Blog – Humanities in the age of technological innovation: a vision for Higher Education". University of Surrey VC blogs. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  16. ^ "Board Members - UK Research and Innovation". www.ukri.org. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  17. ^ "Deputy Lieutenants". www.surreylieutenancy.org. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  18. ^ "Transform Housing Patrons". Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  19. ^ "Honorary degrees for author, mountaineer and scientist".
  20. ^ "Academy welcomes leading UK and international engineers as new Fellows". Royal Academy of Engineering. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  21. ^ "UQ celebrates success in Federation Fellowships". Archived from the original on 15 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  22. ^ Anonymous (22 April 2008). "Top researchers awarded ARC Federation Fellowships". www.arc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  23. ^ "Top 100 : 2013, Page 1". realviewtechnologies.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  24. ^ "2013 Queensland Greats recipients". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  25. ^ "Australia-China Achievement Awards - winners and finalists announced". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  26. ^ "Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia" (PDF). Australia Day 2017 Honours List. Governor-General of Australia. 26 January 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  27. ^ "University of Surrey Vice-Chancellor awarded Officer in the general division of the Order of Australia". University of Surrey – Guildford. Archived from the original on 28 January 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  28. ^ a b c "Previous Winners" (PDF). The Australian and New Zealand Federation of Chemical Engineers. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  29. ^ "Le Fèvre Medal - Australian Academy of Science". www.science.org.au. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  30. ^ Past Officers and Award winners, Royal Australian Chemical Institute, 2017, p. 23, retrieved 15 April 2018
  31. ^ "China Announces 2011 International Science and Technology Cooperation Award---Chinese Academy of Sciences". english.cas.cn. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  32. ^ "Provost Max Lu honoured by The Chemical Society of Japan". Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  33. ^ "Chemical Engineering Science". Archived from the original on 15 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  34. ^ "2019年中科院院士增选结果揭晓，64人当选". The Paper. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  35. ^ "Senior Council Delegation to Sign New Twinning Agreement in China".
  36. ^ "Guildford Borough Council delegation to fly to China and sign partnership agreement with city of Dongying after councillors approve plans". 12 October 2017.
  37. ^ "Surrey races to build links with Liaoning". China Daily. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  38. ^ "Universities cry poor while vice-chancellors make a motza".
  39. ^ Evans, Martin (25 February 2018). "University vice chancellors rack up £8 million in expenses, including claims for sticks of rock and 'pornstar' Martinis". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  40. ^ McKeon, Christopher (29 March 2018). "Uni paid vice-chancellor's £2,610 private members' club fee". Surrey Live. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  41. ^ a b Doward, Jamie; Drevet, Laetitia (24 February 2018). "University vice-chancellors claimed almost £8m in expenses in two years". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  42. ^ "How British managers and Chinese communists are destroyed by the perks they take for granted". The Spectator. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  43. ^ a b "Three top-paying universities cut vice-chancellor salaries". Financial Times. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  44. ^ a b c "University of Surrey staff and students stage no confidence vote over staff and budget cuts". 16 May 2019.
  45. ^ "University offers redundancy to all staff". BBC. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  46. ^ "University that spent £1,600 relocating the vice-chancellor's dog warns of £15m deficit". The Independent. 1 March 2019. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  47. ^ "Paygate: The Problem with Surrey's Vice-Chancellor". The Stag Surrey. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  48. ^ "Vote of no confidence for university's management". 29 May 2024.
  49. ^ a b "Damning vote of no confidence in University of Surrey vice-chancellor". www.ucu.org.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  50. ^ "University of Surrey all-staff Vote of No Confidence in the Vice-Chancellor and the Executive Board". 7 May 2019.
  51. ^ "No Confidence Referendum at Surrey – The Bigger Picture". Incite. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  52. ^ Cyranoski, David (2018). "China introduces 'social' punishments for scientific misconduct". Nature. 564 (7736): 312. Bibcode:2018Natur.564..312C. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-07740-z. PMID 30563974. S2CID 56478756.
Academic offices
Preceded by Vice-Chancellor of the University of Surrey
2016–present 		Incumbent
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