Mao Haijian, born in 1954, studied under Professor Chen Xulu in his early years. He used to serve as research assistant, research associate, and research fellow at the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, consecutively. He also used to be a professor at the Department of History of Peking University. He now holds several positions in East China Normal University (ECNU), including dean and Executive Committee member of the Si-Mian Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities, East China, professor and doctoral tutor at the Department of History, and dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.  Meanwhile, he is a distinguished professor at the University of Macau.