Professor Gu Mingyuan has featured prominently in the teaching and learning landscape in the Mainland over the past 60 years. He has emerged as one of China's leading educational theorists and is held in very high regard on the Mainland. Now, his outstanding achievements have once again been recognised with the award of the Institute' first Honorary Doctorate, in 2001-02.

Professor Gu's early education involved attending various primary schools during the Japanese occupation. He taught in a primary school himself, in Shanghai, and here he began to take a deep interest in how children learn. He entered Beijing Normal University to further his studies and eventually became Vice-President and Dean of Graduate Studies.

Professor Gu underwent hardships during the Cultural Revolution. But his devotion to education was undeterred. He emerged to become a strong advocate of the modernisation of education on the Mainland. He also is a renowned expert in comparative education, establishing exchanges with educationists in other countries and, more recently, fostering an Asian identity in his area of speciality.