Three Law School Alumni Honored in University's China 100 Celebration

In 1914, three students from China—Pan Wen Huen, Pan Wen Ping, and Kwong Yi Kum—enrolled at the University of Minnesota. Today, the University hosts more than 2,200 students and scholars from China each year. China 100 is the University's yearlong celebration honoring those first Chinese students and the wealth of connections that have come in the century since.

As part of the celebration, the University is recognizing 100 individuals with the China 100 Distinguished Chinese Alumni Award. Recipients were selected based on their contributions to the local, national, and international community over the past century. Among the alumni chosen were three J.D. graduates of the Law School:

Alex Zhao Zhang (’89) heads the Shanghai office of White & Case, where he specializes in China-related mergers and acquisitions, venture capital/private equity financing, joint ventures and strategic alliances, and other cross-border business and commercial matters. He has served as the trade representative for the state of Minnesota in Hong Kong, and he has coordinated University delegation visits to China and supported the Law School in the development of its LL.M. program in Beijing. In 2004, Zhang received the University of Minnesota Outstanding Achievement Award.

Ruilin Li (’01), who graduated magna cum laude from the Law School, is an officer with Fredrikson & Byron in Minneapolis. Licensed to practice in both China and the United States, she works with U.S. businesses looking to expand into Chinese markets as well as with Chinese businesses seeking representation in the U.S. Li focuses on business organization, governance, finance, securities, mergers and acquisitions, and the energy and life sciences sectors.

Chang Wang (’06) is chief research and academic officer at Thomson Reuters in Eagan, Minn. He is the author of three books, including the recently published bilingual volume Legal Research in American Law. He is an associate professor at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, an adjunct professor at the Law School, and a visiting professor at the University of Milan and the University of Vienna, among other teaching posts. Wang is the second Chinese national ever elected to the American Law Institute, and he serves on the ABA's Human Rights Advisory Council, as well as on its steering groups for Chinese law and immigration and naturalization law.