Yuezhi Zhao

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| name = Yuezhi Zhao

| image = Yuezhi Zhao - 2019 (cropped).jpg

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| caption = Zhao in 2019

| native_name = {{lang|zh|趙月枝}}

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1965}}

| birth_place = Jinyun County, Zhejiang, China

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| education = Beijing Broadcasting Institute
Simon Fraser University

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| discipline = Sociologist

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| workplaces = UCSD (1997-2000)
Simon Fraser University (2000-present)

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| main_interests = Communication and media studies, US-China relations

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Yuezhi Zhao ({{lang|zh|趙月枝}}; born 1965) is a Canadian sociologist. She is a Canada Research Chair in Communication and Media Studies and the founder of the Global Media Monitoring Laboratory at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Her research takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the relationship between communication and policy in US-China relations, which she regularly publishes research in both English and Chinese, and she is a noted commentator on the policies pursued by the People's Republic of China.

Early life and education

Zhao was born in China, in the Jinyun County of the Zhejiang Province. She completed BA in journalism from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute in 1984.{{cite web|url=http://www.csstoday.com/Item/4956.aspx|title=Transcultural Communication Through Lens of Critical Scholarship|last1=Jianhua|first1=Feng|date=October 16, 2017|website=csstoday.com|access-date=October 12, 2019}} In 1986, she migrated to Canada to pursue her post-graduate education at Simon Fraser University. There, she earned her MA in communication in 1989 and Ph.D. in communication in 1996.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sfu.ca/communication/team/faculty/yuezhi-zhao.html|title=Yuezhi Zhao - School of Communication - Simon Fraser University|website=www.sfu.ca|access-date=2019-12-20}}

Career

After earning her PhD, Zhao earned a position at the University of California, San Diego in 1997. She left the University of California three years later and returned to SFU in 2000.{{cite web |title=Yuezhi Zhao, professor and Canada Research Chair, receives Canada's highest academic honour |url=http://www.sfu.ca/fcat/news/news-archive/fall-2019/yuezhi-zhao--professor-and-canada-research-chair--receives-canad.html |website=sfu.ca |access-date=October 12, 2019 |date=September 10, 2019}} She joined SFU as a tenure-tracked assistant professor in Communication and Media Studies.{{cite web |title=New Faculty |url=https://www.sfu.ca/archive-sfunews/sfnews/2000/July27/newfaculty.html |website=sfu.ca |access-date=October 12, 2019 |date=July 27, 2000}}

As an associate professor of communications at SFU, Zhao was appointed a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in the political economy of global communication in 2005.{{cite web |last1=Guly |first1=Christopher |title=Checking up on world media |url=http://www.sfu.ca/archive-sfunews/print/sfu_news/archives/sfunews02240508.htm |website=sfu.ca |access-date=October 12, 2019 |date=February 24, 2005}} As a result of her research, she also earned the Chang-Jiang Scholar Award from the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education in 2009.{{cite web |title=Two SFU professors win awards in China |url=http://www.sfu.ca/archive-sfunews/news/story_11190918.shtml |website=sfu.ca |access-date=October 12, 2019 |date=November 19, 2009}} The next year, she was renewed as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair{{cite web |title=Three Canada Research Chairs renewed |url=http://www.sfu.ca/archive-sfunews/news/three-canada-research-chairs-renewed.shtml |website=sfu.ca |access-date=October 12, 2019 |date=April 8, 2010}} and by 2011 was appointed to Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy of Global Communication.{{cite web |title=September 22, 2011 Meeting Summary |url=https://www.sfu.ca/bog/summaries/2011/september.html |website=sfu.ca |access-date=October 12, 2019 |date=September 22, 2011}}

While teaching at SFU, Zhao created the Global Communication Double MA Degree program,{{cite web |title=Faculty Profile: Dr. Yuezhi Zhao, Communications |url=https://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/blog/year/2016/02/YuezhiZhao.html |website=sfu.ca |access-date=October 12, 2019 |date=February 10, 2016}} which would win the 2014 gold prize in the Educational Excellence Award category at the Canada-China Business Council's 4th Canada-China Business Excellence Awards.{{cite web |title=SFU's M.A. Double Degree Program in Global Communication Wins Award |url=https://www.sfu.ca/communication/graduate/prospective-students/master-of-arts-double-degree/award-winning-program.html |website=sfu.ca |access-date=October 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327121141/https://www.sfu.ca/communication/graduate/prospective-students/master-of-arts-double-degree/award-winning-program.html |archive-date=March 27, 2016}}

In 2013, she received SFU's C. Edwin Baker Award for "the Advancement of Scholarship on Media, Markets and Democracy."{{cite web |title=Dr. Yuezhi Zhao - C. Edwin Baker Award Recipient |url=https://www.sfu.ca/fcat/news/news-archive/fall-2013/yuezhi-zhao-c-edwin-baker-award.html |website=sfu.ca |access-date=October 12, 2019 |date=September 19, 2013}} She was also appointed a Senior Fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.{{cite web |title=Yuezhi Zhao Appointed Senior Fellow to the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada |url=https://www.asiapacific.ca/media/news-releases/38985 |website=asiapacific.ca |access-date=October 12, 2019 |location=Vancouver |date=April 11, 2013}} Two years later, Zhao was the recipient of the 2015 Award for Leadership.{{cite web |title=Dean of Graduate Studies Awards for Excellence |url=http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/blog/year/2015/06/DGS-Awards-2015.html |website=sfu.ca |access-date=October 12, 2019 |date=June 1, 2015}}

In 2019, Zhao was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Works

Author: Communication and Society: Political Economic and Cultural Analysis (2014) Communication University of China Press, {{ISBN|978-7565702235}}
Author: Communication in China: Political Economy, Power and Conflict (2008) Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, {{ISBN|978-0742519664}}
Co-author: Global Communications: Toward a Transcultural Political Economy (2008) Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, {{ISBN|978-0742540446}}
Author: Media, Market, and Democracy in China: Between the Party Line and the Bottom Line (1998) University of Illinois Press, {{ISBN|978-0252066788}}