Melanie Manion is Vor Broker Family Professor of Political Science at Duke University. She studied philosophy and political economy at Peking University in the late 1970s, was trained in Far Eastern studies at McGill University and the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, and earned her doctorate in political science at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on contemporary authoritarianism, with empirical work on bureaucracy, corruption, information, and representation in China. She is the recipient of numerous research awards, including awards from the National Science Foundation, Fulbright Foundation, Social Science Research Council, and American Council of Learned Societies. Her newest research investigates the political selection of “winners” in China’s ongoing anticorruption campaign. Recent research, in collaboration with Charles Chang, analyzes social media self-censorship in China. Her most recent book, Information for Autocrats (Cambridge University Press, 2015), examines representation in Chinese local congresses. Previous publications include Retirement of Revolutionaries in China (Princeton University Press, 1993), Corruption by Design (Harvard University Press, 2004), and Contemporary Chinese Politics: New Sources, Methods, and Field Strategies (edited with Allen Carlson, Mary Gallagher, and Kenneth Lieberthal, Cambridge University Press, 2010). Her articles have appeared in journals including American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, and China Quarterly. She is an award-winning teacher.

Annemieke Van Den Dool is Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy at Duke Kunshan University. She has a multidisciplinary background with a B.A. in China Studies from Leiden University, a M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Lund University in Sweden, and a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Her research focuses on policymaking and implementation in China, particularly in the areas of health and environmental policy. She examines the role of various stakeholders in policymaking, analyzes the driving forces behind policy change, and assesses the design and content of public policies. Current research topics include antimicrobial resistance, epidemic outbreaks, crisis management, environmental pollution, community gardening, and urban bicycling. She is the recipient of multiple research grants, including funding from the World Health Organization Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, the Kunshan Government, and the Harvard-Yenching Institute. She was awarded the 2024 American Political Science Association Evan Ringquist Best Paper Award. Van Den Dool serves as a Board Member of the Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. She is also an editorial board member for China Policy Journal, Review of Policy Research, and Policy & Politics. Her research has been published in leading public policy journals, including Policy Studies Journal and Policy & Politics.

Chi Zhang is the Senior Program Coordinator for the Center.

Her primary responsibilities include grant management, event organization, administrative and operational support for the Center, and collaborating with research units to enhance research capacity throughout the university. Chi holds a Master’s degree in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from Durham University. Prior to this role, she served as the administrator for both the Center for the Study of Contemporary China and the Humanities Research Center at Duke Kunshan University.