Anthony Saich

Tony  Saich is the Director of the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation; the Daewoo Professor of International Affairs; and Faculty Chair of Asia Programs and the China Public Policy Program. From 1994 to July 1999, he was the Chief Representative of the China Office at the Ford Foundation in Beijing. Prior to this, he was the Director of the Sinological Institute, Leiden University, the Netherlands. His teaching and research focus on the interplay between state and society in Asia and the respective roles they play in determining policy-making and framing socio-economic development.

He has written several books on development in China, including China’s Science Policy in the 80s (1989); Revolutionary Discourse in Mao’s China (1994, with David E. Apter); The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party (1996); The Governance and Politics of China (2004); Providing Public Goods in Transitional China (2008) and recently edited a book on China's urbanization (2008, with Shahid Yusuf). Dr. Saich is the founding editor of China Information, a journal published quarterly by the Documentation and Research Centre for Contemporary China, Leiden, and is currently a member of its Editorial Board. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of The China Quarterly.

Dr. Saich received his B.A. (Hons) from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, his M.Sc. (Econ) from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University, and his Ph.D. from Leiden University. He studied in China on a British Council reciprocal scholarship from 1976-77 and has visited China almost every year since. From 1988-90, he was a visiting research fellow at the Fairbank Center, Harvard University, and in the academic year 1992-93, he was a visiting professor at UCLA. He has taught at universities in England, Holland and the US.