Sir Gordon Wu Distinguished Speaker Forum

Sir Gordon Wu Distinguished Speaker Forum

About the Sir Gordon Wu Distinguished Speaker Forum

The Sir Gordon Wu Distinguished Speaker Forum at Columbia Business School promotes the academic study and professional understanding of China's economy and business practices. By bringing recognized business leaders and policy makers to New York to share their perspectives on this vital region, the Sir Gordon Wu Speaker Forum informs and engages Columbia Business School faculty, students and alumni through an active dialogue about China and its prospects in the 21st century.This event is preliminary an alumni event. Please contact chazen@columbia.edu if you would like to receive updates for this series.

The Sir Gordon Wu Distinguished Speaker Forum at Columbia Business School was made possible by the generosity of Sir Gordon Wu and the Wu family.

Past speakers:

      2008: Wisdom of Choice, featuring Kai Fu Lee, President, Google
      Greater China
      Fall 2007: Real Estate and Policy in China: A Two Way Street,
      featuring Jun Tang, President, Beijing Land Capital Ltd.
      Spring 2007: Investing in China: A New Era Has Arrived,
      featuring Frank Tang, President, Temasek Holdings (HK) Limited.
      Click here for an event report.
      Fall 2007: Brand Revolution in the Age of Consumerism: An
      Olympic Feat for China, featuring Steven Yung, Chairman of the
      Board, Clean Media Limited. Click here for an event report.
      Spring 2006: Doing Business in China: Outsourcing and Supply
      Chain Management, featuring Dr. Victor K. Fung, Chairman of
      Li & Fung. Click here for an event report.
      2005: Perspectives on Investing in China, featuring Sir Gordon
      Wu and Dean Glenn Hubbard. Click here for an event report.

    

About Ge Li

Dr. Ge Li is co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of WuXi PharmaTech Co., Ltd.  He received his BS in Chemistry from Beijing University in 1989, and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1993.  Ge was one of the founding scientists of Pharmacopeia, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCOP) in Princeton, New Jersey, one of the world’s leading combinatorial chemistry companies, where he had held a series of scientific and management leadership positions.  At Pharmacopeia, Inc., Ge had successfully co-developed three compounds under clinical evaluation.  In 2000, Ge moved back to Shanghai to found WuXi PharmaTech.  He managed to grow the company from a small start-up to a NYSE listed global company. Credited with WuXi PharmaTech’s overwhelming growth and evolution since inception, Dr. Li’s impressive achievements have won him many prestigious awards and honors, with recent ones including the Most Innovative Leader of Chinese Enterprises in 2008 and together with WuXi PharmaTech the Most Innovative Company in China, the 2007 China Top 10 Influential Entrepreneurs, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year China 2007 Award and the 2006 China Top Ten Talents (Science & Technology) Award.  In 2005 Dr. Ge Li was featured on the cover page of Red Herring magazine, and honored with Distinguished Entrepreneur Award from Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of The State Council of People’s Republic of China when he received the prestigious award at Great Hall of The People in Beijing on September 29, 2005.  Most recently, WuXi PharmaTech won the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Award for Best in Class Outsourced R&D in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology.

About From Ordinary to Extraordinary: Pharmaceutical Success in China

WuXi PharmaTech, co-founded by Dr. Ge Li in 2000, is a leading global pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device R&D outsourcing company with operations in both China and the U.S. In 2007 the company provided services to more than 80 pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers including nine of the top ten pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Li will share the history of WuXi PharmaTech's growth and prosperity, and show how continued research and development has driven improved performance since the inception of the company.