Prof. WANG Xun-Li (王循理)

In August 2012, Professor Xun-Li Wang joined City University of Hong Kong as a Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Physics and Materials Science. In July 2017, the department split, and Professor Wang assumed the headship of the new Department of Physics. He oversaw a rapid expansion of the new department, which grew from 12 faculty members to 25 in five years. In 2022-2023, Professor Wang served as Executive Director of Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS). Following the lift of COVID-19 related travel restrictions in Hong Kong, he quickly revitalized the academic life of HKIAS, through the appointments of distinguished visiting scholars and a host of high-level conferences and lectures.

Prior to coming to Hong Kong, he worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US, rising through the ranks to Distinguished Staff Member. He was responsible for the design, construction, and commissioning of VULCAN, a powerful engineering diffractometer at the Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. As a senior scientist in the Neutron Science Directorate, he led innovative research, using neutron scattering as a primary tool, to understand phase transformation and deformation behaviors in complex materials.

Since joining City University of Hong Kong, Professor Wang has been committed to establishing Hong Kong as an international hub for neutron scattering research. With the support from The Croucher Foundation, he initiated the biennial Croucher Summer Course on Neutron Scattering. He was also instrumental in launching the Gordon Research Conference series on Neutron Scattering, serving as the inaugural Chair in 2015. In addition, he and Professor Hesheng Chen of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, co-founded a joint laboratory on neutron scattering. The joint laboratory has received financial support from The Croucher Foundation, Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2020, Professor Wang contributed to the establishment of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory on Neutron Scattering and served as the Executive Director in Hong Kong.

Professor Wang earned his Ph.D. from Iowa State University and B.S. from Peking University, both in Physics. He is an elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Neutron Scattering Society of America (NSSA). In 2024, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Physical Society.

• Neutron and synchrotron X-ray scattering
• Phase transformation, deformation, magnetism
• Metallic glasses, high-entropy alloys, magnetic shape memory alloys
• Residual stress determination

• 2023, Outstanding Scientific Research Award, Ministry of Education, China
• 2022, The President’s Award, City University of Hong Kong
• 2021, Croucher Senior Research Fellowship, the Croucher Foundation
• 2020, Elected Fellow, Neutron Scattering Society of America
• 2018, Lee Hsun Lectureship, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• 2017, Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
• 2015, Inaugural Chair, The Gordon Research Conference on Neutron Scattering, Hong Kong
• 2010, Elected Fellow, American Physical Society
• 2009, Chang Jiang Chair Professorship （教育部长江讲座教授）, Chinese Ministry of Education
• 2008, Outstanding Oversea Scholars（中国科学院海外知名学者）, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• 2006, Outstanding Oversea Young Scientist Award (基金委杰出青年B类), National Natural Science Foundation of China
• 2003, Significant Event Award, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• 1999, A. F. Davis Silver Medal, American Welding Society
• 1998, Significant Event Award, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• 1985, CUSPEA Scholar, (China-US Physics Examination and Application program), Chinese Ministry of Education

City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (2012 – present)

• Executive Director, Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (2022-2023)
• Chair Professor and Head, Department of Physics (2017 - 2023)
• Chair Professor and Head, Department of Physics & Materials Science (2012 – 2017)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA (1992 – 2012) 

• Distinguished Research Staff (2009 – 2012)
• Group Leader, Powder Diffraction Group, Neutron Scattering Science Division (2006 – 2011)
• Senior Research Staff, Spallation Neutron Source (2006 – 2008)
• Instrument Scientist and Project Manager for VULCAN, Spallation Neutron Source (1999 – 2005)
• Research Staff Member, Metals and Ceramics Division (1994 — 1999)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Metals and Ceramics Division (1992 — 1994)

• Member, Board of Directors of the American Physical Society (2024 - present)
• International Councilor, American Physical Society (2023 - present)
• Member of the Academic Committee, China Center of Advanced Science and Technology (CCAST, 中国高等科学技术中心学术委员会) (2020 – present).
• President, Physical Society of Hong Kong (2020 - 2023).
• Member, The Bragg Institute Program Advisory Committee, The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) (2013 – 2016).
• Member of Selection Committee for “Sustained Research and Science Prize”, Neutron Scattering Society of America (2012)
• Member, Review Committee, US Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Operational Review of the Advanced Photon Source. USA (2011)
• Chair, Chemistry and Physics of Materials Committee, TMS (2011-2013)
• Member, Neutron Science Proposal Review Committee (NSPRC), Japan Proton Accelerator Complex (2010-2013)
• Member of Review Committee of Los Alamos Lujan Neutron Science Center, US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. USA (2009)

• Editor, Acta Materialia and Scripta Materialia

• PHY4285, Introduction to Scattering Science (2025)
• GE1305, Everyday Physics (2020, 2025)
• AP8180, Modern Scattering Methods in Materials Science (2014)
• AP1201, General Physics (2013)