BIOGRAPHY

Professor Yonghua Song has served as the ninth Rector of the University of Macau since 9 January 2018. Professor Song has held a number of leadership positions at British and Chinese universities and possesses extensive experience in higher education management at a senior level. He has actively promoted internationalization and institutional cooperation and is particularly familiar with the development and operational models of higher education institutions in Europe, the United States and Asia.

Professor Song received his B.Eng. and Ph.D. from Chengdu University of Science and Technology (now Sichuan University) and the China Electric Power Research Institute in 1984 and 1989 respectively. In 2002, he was awarded a DSc by Brunel University for his outstanding contributions to power system research. In 2014, he was awarded an Honorary DEng by the University of Bath. In 2019, he was awarded an Honorary DSc by the University of Edinburgh. In 1989, Professor Song conducted post-doctoral research in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Tsinghua University. In 1991, he went to the UK and held various teaching and research positions at the University of Bristol, the University of Bath and John Moores University. In 1997, Professor Song was appointed Professor of Power Systems at Brunel University. He was also the Royal Academy of Engineering/British Energy/Siemens Chair of Power Systems. In 2004, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and was also appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Graduate Studies at Brunel University. In 2007, he took up the positions of Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Liverpool, while also holding the Executive President position at Xi’an Jiaotong – Liverpool University in Suzhou, China.

In 2009, Professor Song was invited to return to China as a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and as Assistant President at Tsinghua University. In the same year, he was appointed Director of the Chinese National Office of the Recruitment Program of Global Experts. From November 2012 to December 2017, Professor Song served as Executive Vice President of Zhejiang University, Founding Dean of International Campus and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Higher Education at Zhejiang University. He played an active role in promoting globalization, planning  university development and facilitating the recruitment of top young talents at Zhejiang University. Professor Song also served as Vice President of the second and third councils of the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy (CSEDS), where he focused on promoting and formulating education development strategies and education planning, as well as conducting research and advising on major policymaking. He was elected Vice President of the Chinese Educators’ Association of Macau in 2019, Vice President of the eighth council of the China Association of Higher Education in 2022, and President of the Macao Association for Higher Education Development in 2025.

Professor Song is a chair professor in electrical engineering at the University of Macau and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City. He has long been engaged in research on power system analysis and control, and is internationally known for his systematic and innovative contributions to the safe and efficient operation of low-carbon power systems. In 2020, Professor Song received the second prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award and the prize for Scientific and Technological Progress from the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation. In 2022, he was awarded the Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Prize. In 2023, he was awarded the Third National Innovation Excellence Award. Professor Song was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) in 2004, an IEEE Fellow in 2008, and a member of Academia Europaea in 2019. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), a Fellow of the International Euro-Asia Academy of Sciences, Vice President of the eighth and ninth councils of the China Electrotechnical Society (CES), and Vice President of the ninth and tenth councils of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering (CSEE). Professor Song has a long-standing connection with Macao, having served as an advisor to the Science and Technology Committee of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government since 2002. In 2023, he was awarded the Medal of Merit – Education by the Macao Special Administrative Region Government in recognition of his outstanding contributions to education.