DAU is an independent platform for university leaders, policymakers, industry partners, and researchers worldwide to understand the historic rise of Asian higher education and its wide-ranging impacts.
Dialogue, on
Asian Universities.
Meet our co-founder
Da Hsuan Feng
Former Vice President for Research
University of Texas at Dallas
Former Senior Vice President
National Tsing Hua University
The genesis of DAU arose serendipitously. In 2020, I read a fascinating book on higher education written by Tony Chan about his experiences as the president of HKUST. The book struck a chord with me, especially about the robust intellectual growth of Asian higher education. I started an email thread on this topic with Tony and my other good friend, Tan Eng Chye, the President of National University of Singapore. Our conversation quickly evolved into an exciting idea to build an international platform to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing Asian higher education. Since we felt it is important to have the younger generation perspective, I pulled in my friend Max Lu from Bloomberg, now at Harvard University. With the four of us having different perspectives of Asian higher education, DAU was born!
Meet our co-founder
Max Lu
Doctoral Student
Harvard University
Technology Fellow
USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP)
When Da Hsuan, Tony, and Eng Chye invited me to join DAU, I knew it was an opportunity of a lifetime. Higher education holds the key to many challenges in our society. For me, beyond ensuring high-quality operations and potential growth for DAU, I aim to incorporate the perspectives of younger generations into the conversation, without which the dialogues would be incomplete.
Meet our co-founder
Tan Eng Chye
President
National University of Singapore
Immediate Former Chair
Universitas 21
It started as a casual exchange between Da Hsuan and Tony, both long-time friends of mine. We are cognizant of the interest in the development of Asian universities, in parallel with the global shift of economics towards Asia. We thought sharing ideas and practices through a platform would be useful, especially when covid had restricted face-to-face interactions. Hence, the DAU, which grew very quickly. It's been fulfilling working with Da Hsuan, Tony, Max, and his wonderful team. We hope this platform will be of benefit to many universities working hard towards excellence.
Meet our brilliant minds
Our incredible Think Tank drives DAU’s mission forward, fostering open dialogue and innovation in Asian higher education. Your dedication and insights shape the conversations that matter, and we deeply appreciate your work. As we continue to grow, we invite you to explore new opportunities to contribute, collaborate, and make an even greater impact.
Meet our co-founder
Tony F Chan
President
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Former President
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Over the past few years, Da Hsuan and I have been exchanging articles we wrote on higher education and other topics. In one of the exchanges that our good friend Eng Chye also joined, we shared our concern that the evolution of Asian higher education had not been properly discussed on a global platform. This idea evolved into DAU. In fact, the first DAU started as an "internal affair" with Da Hsuan interviewing Eng Chye and me. Through Da Hsuan, we are fortunate to bring in Max, whose contribution goes beyond providing technical support but also, more importantly, giving his perspective as a next generation.
.jpg)
Content Creator &
Copywriting Specialist
Leqi Mu
.jpg)
Lead Visual Designer &
Development Strategy Director
Fuxuan Song
.jpg)
Graphic Designer &
Strategic Branding Expert
Hans Fan
Stay connected, stay inspired.
Change doesn’t happen in isolation—it happens when people come together, share ideas, and take action. At DAU, we connect educators, leaders, and innovators who care about the future of Asian higher education.
We’re ready to listen, whenever you are.
The next big idea could start with you, and with us.
.jpg)
Social Media Editor &
Strategy Analyst
Andrew Chen
.jpg)
Marketing Specialist & Product Manager
Vincent Jiang
.jpg)
User Experience Designer & Operations Analyst
Xinyu Liu