Nanning Zheng

Timeline

1. 1972–1985

   From Xi'an Jiaotong to Keio University

   In 1972, he is recommended for the industrial automation major in the electrical engineering department of Xi'an Jiaotong University, and he earns an engineering master's there in 1981. He goes to Japan in 1981, studies at Keio University, and returns to China in 1985 with a doctorate.

2. 1986

   Founding an AI and robotics institute

   In 1986, he and Xuan Guorong, the first director, found the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at Xi'an Jiaotong University. It is the country's first specialized research institute for artificial intelligence and teaches master's and doctoral students.

3. 1994–2014

   President of Xi'an Jiaotong University

   He is vice dean of the School of Electronic and Information Engineering from 1994 and vice-president of Xi'an Jiaotong University from November 1995. From 2003 to 2014, he is the university's president, and in April 2014 he becomes director of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.

4. 1999–2005

   Academician and IEEE Fellow

   The Chinese Academy of Engineering elects him as an academician in 1999. In 2005, he becomes an IEEE Fellow.

5. 2016–2017

   Scene understanding and hybrid intelligence

   In 2016, a project led by his team on pattern representation and computational theory and methods for visual scene understanding receives the National Natural Science Award. In 2017, he and co-authors including Zi-yi Liu and Peng-ju Ren publish "Hybrid-augmented intelligence: collaboration and cognition" in Frontiers of Information Technology & Electronic Engineering, which proposes adding human cognitive capabilities or cognitive models to AI systems.

6. March 2021

   Shaanxi's top science award

   In March 2021, Shaanxi's provincial government grants the 2020 Shaanxi Provincial Preeminent Science and Technology Award to him for research in artificial intelligence. His work includes a computational model of stereo computer vision and a theory of attention computing.

7. 2022

   Wu Wen Jun award, teaching prize

   He receives the 2022 Wu Wen Jun AI Highest Achievement Award, with an honorary medal and prize money. A project he leads on training high-level AI talent wins a first-place prize in the 2022 National Teaching Achievement Awards for Higher Education, the country's first and only first-place prize in artificial intelligence.

8. 2025

   A Politburo lecture on AI

   In April 2025, as a professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University, he gives the presentation at the 20th group study session of the CPC Central Committee's Political Bureau, which Xi Jinping chairs and which focuses on developing and regulating AI. In July 2025, he gives a keynote at the World AI Conference in Shanghai on the evolution of AI from model-driven to intent-driven systems.