Shixin Jack Hu (; born November 1963) is a Chinese-American mechanical engineer and academic administrator, serving as the 10th chancellor of the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

starting July 15, 2025. Hu studied engineering machinery at

Tianjin University Tianjin University (TJU; zh, t=, , s=天津大学, p=, labels=no), previously Peiyang University (), is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Tianjin, China. Established in 1895 by a royal charter from ...

in China, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1983 and a master's degree in 1984. He studied mechanical engineering at the

University of Michigan College of Engineering The University of Michigan College of Engineering (branded as Michigan Engineering) is the engineering school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. History The college was founded in 1854, with co ...

, receiving a master's degree and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree in 1990. After his graduation, he continued his research at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, joined the university faculty in 1995, and received tenure in 1998. He served as the vice president for research of the University of Michigan from December 2015 to July 2019 and as the senior vice president for academic affairs and provost of the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

from July 2019 to July 2025. Hu's research focuses on manufacturing systems, assembly modeling, and statistical quality control. Hu is a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

and serves as a member of the executive committee of the

Transportation Research Board The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is a division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. TRB's mission is to mobilize expertise, experience, and knowledge to anticipate and solve complex transportation-related challe ...

of the

National Academies A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ins ...

. Hu is a Fellow of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing edu ...

, the

Chinese Academy of Engineering The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences a ...

, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and the International Academy for Production Engineering.

Early life and education

Hu was born in the city of

Changde Changde (; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 常德區 ) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. Changde, known as "Wuling" in ancient times, is located on the west side of Do ...

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

province, China. Gradated from

in China, Hu received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in engineering machinery from in July 1983 and a Master of Engineering degree in engineering machinery in December 1984. After that, he attended the

and did his graduate studies in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

, working with professor Shien-Ming (Sam) Wu, a specialist in modern manufacturing system. Hu received a Master of Science degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in mechanical engineering the University of Michigan in 1990. His doctoral dissertation was titled ''Impact of 100% measurement data on statistical process control (SPC) in automobile body assembly''.

Career

After finishing his PhD, Hu stayed at Michigan as an eight-month postdoctoral research fellow from January 1991 to August 1991, and then as an assistant research scientist from September 1991 to August 1995. During this period, Hu led the "ATP 2mm Project". After joining the university faculty as an assistant professor in 1995, he was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 1998 and named professor in 2002. From 2002 to 2006, Hu was director of the program in manufacturing and the executive director of Michigan interdisciplinary and professional engineering. He also worked on President Barack Obama's Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a working group advising the federal government on how to bolster American manufacturing. He was named vice president for research in 2015 after serving in that position in an interim capacity. As vice president for research, he led the development of Mcity, a public-private partnership focused on connected and automated transportation, and a campus-wide initiative on data science. Hu was elected as a member into the

in 2015 for methods for predicting and diagnosing root causes of product quality variation in multistage assembly systems. On July 1, 2019, he began his tenure as senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the

. On May 28, 2025, Hu was named the incoming 10th Chancellor of the

, and will begin his role on July 15, 2025.

Leadership

Hu has made significant contributions to the department, college and the professional societies at the national level through a wide range of service activities at the University of Michigan. At the national/international level, he has served on various committees for

ASME The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing edu ...

and SME. Hu was appointed the Editor-in-Chief of SME Journal of Manufacturing Systems in 2008, and elected the chair of Scientific Committee on Assembly and Life Cycle Engineering of the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP) in 2010. Within the University of Michigan, Hu held a number of leadership positions at all levels, as associate department chair, director of program in manufacturing, director/executive director of InterPro, associate dean, and interim vice president for research etc. Hu also served as chair or member of various committees/task forces. As the vice president for research (2014-2019) at the University of Michigan, Hu had overall responsibility for nurturing the excellence and integrity of research across the UM campuses in Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint. The University of Michigan has an annual research expenditure of over $1.5 billion. The office of the vice president for research promotes interdisciplinary research, develops and implements research policy, provides central administrative services in support of faculty research, innovation, and economic outreach, and manages activities related to research compliance and the responsible conduct of research. As the senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Georgia (2019–present), Hu oversees instruction, research, public service and outreach, and information technology. The vice presidents of these four areas report to him, as do the deans of UGA's 17 schools and colleges and the campus dean of the Augusta University/UGA Medical Partnership. The vice provost for academic affairs and the vice provost for diversity and inclusion and strategic university initiatives, as well as associate provosts for academic fiscal affairs, academic programs, faculty affairs, global engagement, the honors program, and the libraries, also report to him.

Honors, awards, and distinctions

* Fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (2018) * Foreign Member of

(2017) *

Blackall Machine Tool & Gage Award (2017) * SME Gold Medal (2017) * Elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (2015) * SME/NAMRI S. M. Wu Research Implementation Award (2014) *

William T. Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award (2012) * Fellow of International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP) (2012) * Selected as a Big 10 Academic Alliance fellow of Academic Leadership Programs (2010) * G. Lawton and Louise G. Johnson Professor of Engineering * Fellow of

(2003) * National Science Foundation CAREER Award (1996) * Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, (1993) * Various Best Paper Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hu, S. Jack People from Changde University of Michigan fellows University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni 1963 births Living people Engineers from Hunan Tianjin University alumni University of Michigan faculty University of Georgia faculty Chinese emigrants to the United States American mechanical engineers Chinese mechanical engineers Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering 21st-century Chinese engineers 20th-century Chinese engineers 21st-century American engineers 20th-century American engineers