Worcester Business Journal

November, 28, 2022

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10 Worcester Business Journal | November 28, 2022 | wbjournal.com e next president Grace Wang has spent her career focused on inno- vation, academics, and real-world impact, making her particularly suited to be WPI's next president BY TIMOTHY DOYLE WBJ Staff Writer W orcester Polytechnic Institute was founded in two buildings exemplifying its philosophy as a school blending theory and practice. e Washburn Shops, named aer wire-making titan Ichabod Washburn, was a functioning manufacturing plant. Boynton Hall, named aer tinware manufacturer John Boynton, was filled with labs and classrooms for teaching students theories in engineering and science. In 1970, the school crystallized its approach to learning with what it calls the WPI Plan, which emphasizes real-world experience and an interdisciplinary approach to solving global problems. "Grace" Jinliu Wang, who on Nov. 7 was selected by WPI to be its 17th president, believes in and embodies this concept of combining theory and practice to fuel innovation and to apply that innovation to have maximum impact on the world. "I have been admiring WPI for many years. WPI's approach to project-based learning is very distinctive, and it's amazing that WPI has been doing this for over 50 years, using the WPI Plan, which is amazingly forward-thinking," said Wang to WBJ via Zoom while she took a break from a board meeting at e Ohio State University. Wang is still serving as the executive vice president for research, innovation, and knowledge at OSU. She will assume her role as WPI's president on April 3. "Dr. Wang is precisely the leader WPI needs to take project-based learning and purpose-driven research to the next level," WPI Board Chair William Fitzgerald said in a Nov. 7 WPI press release announcing Wang's selection as president. Academia & its impact on society Innovation and the impact innovation can have on the world seems to drive Wang. Wang sees her career as a journey. Aer earning her bachelor's and master's degrees in polymer materials from Beijing University of Chemical Technology in China, she went to Illinois, where she garnered a PhD in materials science from engineering at Northwestern University. Aer school, Wang wanted to get out and see the world beyond academia. "I wanted to know what the real- world impact of the technology was," said Wang. She spent eight years at four jobs employing her expertise in Silicon Valley with IBM and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. Her work focused on data recording media, for which she PHOTO | COURTESY OF WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE "Grace" Jinliu Wang will serve as executive vice president for re- search, innovation, and knowledge at The Ohio State University until she takes over as WPI president on April 3.

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