Sheree W. Willis韦雪瑞

Executive Director

Sheree W.Willis worked as a consultant and freelance Chinese (Mandarin)-English interpreter and translator for over ten years, with an emphasis in educational exchange, environmental projects, and legal interpreting. Ms. Willis also served as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State for eight years, including five years in China. She holds M.A. and B.A. degrees from the University of Kansas in East Asian Languages and Cultures (emphasis in Chinese language and literature).She is also Associate Director of the Kansas-Asia Scholars Program Director and Associate Director of the Kansas/Asia Community Connection in the Center for East Asian Studies.

Nancy Hope

Associate Director for Education

Nancy Hope is the the Associate Director of the Kansas Asia Scholars (KAS) and the Kansas Asia Community Connection (KACC) programs, and the Kansas Consortium for Teaching about Asia (KCTA) at the University of Kansas. She has Masters Degrees in education, fine arts and Asian art history from Boston University, the University of Georgia and the University of Kansas respectively. She has been involved with educational outreach for several years following her return from East Asia, where she lived for almost nine years, first as a line officer in the U.S. Navy and then later as a kimono designer.

 

Ping Xiang  向平

Senior Advisor to the Executive Director; Visiting Scholar/Instructor
Associate Professor, College of International and Cultural Exchange, Huazhong Normal University

Associate Professor Xiang Ping has over 25 years of experience in teaching Chinese as a second language. After earning a B.A. in Chinese literature from Huazhong Normal University in 1983, she completed a training program in second language teaching in Beijing. In 1997, she received her M.A. in Applied Linguistics and she has now completed the coursework toward a Ph.D. in that field. Over the past twenty years, she has taught Chinese language at Huazhong Normal University to countless foreign students from all over the world. In addition to teaching duties, as Associate Dean of the College of International Cultural Exchange, she also designed curriculum, selected and assigned teachers, and implemented pedagogical research projects. Professor Xiang has been tapped more than once to share her expertise with students and teachers of Chinese language overseas. The Chinese Ministry of Education sent her to teach Chinese in Hungary from 1997-1999 and then to Cheju Island in South Korea in 2002-2003. In 2001, she conducted a training program for Chinese language teachers in Australia.

 

Cheng Liu  刘程

Visiting Scholar/Instructor
Lecturer, Huazhong Normal University

Liu Cheng has been teaching Chinese language as a foreign language at Huazhong Normal University since 2004. He holds a B.A. in Chinese Language and Literature from Changchun Normal University, an M.A. in Modern Chinese Language and Literature from Yunnan Normal University, as well as a Certificate for Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language. In 2004, Liu earned a Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature at Nanjing University and Huazhong Normal University (joint degree), with an emphasis in philosophy and aesthetics.

 

Pamela Bray

Assistant Director

Pamela Bray manages the Confucius Institute summer camps, the Film Festival, and other projects for the Institute. She holds an M.B.A degree from DePaul University and a B.S. degree in marketing from the University of Missouri.  Pamela has over twenty years of experience in marketing and six years experience in summer camp management.

 

Zhuojun Jiang 蒋卓君

Visiting Scholar/Instructor
M.A. Candidate, Huazhong Normal University

Ms.Jiang teaches high school Chinese classes via IDL. She holds a B.A. in Chinese Language and Literature from Huazhong Normal University and plans to complete an M.A. in Chinese Language Curriculum and Pedagogical Theory from Huazhong Normal University in June, 2008. Her current research interest is Chinese language pedagogy in an IDL context.

 

Li Wang  王荔

Visiting Scholar/Instructor
Graduate Student, Huazhong Normal University

Ms. Wang teaches high school Chinese classes via IDL. She holds a B.A. in Chinese Language and Literature from Hubei Normal University and plans to complete an M.A. in Chinese Linguistics from Huazhong Normal University in 2009. Her current research interest is in teaching Chinese as a second language.

 

Stephanie Tobis

Accountant/Office Manager

Stephanie Tobis has over 17 years of experience in accounting. She completed an AAS degree at AIMS Community College in Boulder, Colorado in business and addition coursework at Colorado State University. She manages the Confucius Institute office, including all accounting activities.