Gao Qing

Executive Director

Gao Qing is the Executive Director of the Confucius Institute U.S. Center. Under his leadership, the Center, collaborates with other educational and cultural organizations in Washington, DC, and across the country to promote the Chinese language learning, global education and international people-to-people exchange. The Center’s signature programs include the US-China Global Education TV Series and the Confucius Institute National Honors Gala.

Gao served as Director of the Confucius Institute at George Mason University from 2010 to 2017, where he oversaw programming, finance, and operations. The George Mason University Confucius Institute received the “Confucius Institute of the Year” award in 2013, and Gao was recognized with the “Individual Excellence” award in 2012 from the Confucius Institute Headquarters. Gao has chaired panel discussions on the topics of assessment and evaluation, teaching technologies, and program development in international Confucius Institute conferences, and has given lectures at Chinese Director Training programs since 2012. He was also a faculty member of the Arts Management program at George Mason University, and served as Special Assistant to the Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts for China and Global Initiatives. Gao was instrumental in developing collaborative relationships between George Mason University and leading Chinese arts, cultural, and educational institutions on philanthropy and arts management, as well as educational partnerships. In addition, he assisted with business development initiatives for investment and trade between East Asia and Virginia. Before joining Mason in 2010, he worked at US-China Policy Foundation, a public policy institute in Washington, DC. He has conducted research on Sino-US cultural and political relations and has managed the China Materials Service Center for four years. Gao completed his master’s degree from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, and holds a bachelor’s degree from the School of Management, Fudan University.