13 Facts About Jin Li

Jin Li is a Chinese geneticist and academic administrator, currently serving as president of Fudan University since 2021.

Jin Li previously served as the university's executive vice president from 2019 to 2021, vice president from 2007 to 2019, and dean of the Graduate School from 2007 to 2011.

Jin Li is a professor at the National Human Genome Center and Fudan's Institute of Genetics, both in Shanghai.

Jin Li is the principal investigator of East Asian populations for the Genographic Project which collects DNA samples to map historical human migration patterns around the world.

Jin Li earned bachelor's and master's degrees in genetics in 1985 and 1987 respectively, both at Fudan University, where he was a student of Tan Jiazhen.

Jin Li then moved to the United States to earn his doctorate at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, graduating in 1994.

Jin Li was doing postdoctoral research at Stanford University that year when Tan, by then 86 years old, made a trip to the United States specifically to visit Jin Li to discuss the development of biology research in China and to offer him a position at Fudan.

Jin Li eventually took up a part-time position at Fudan in 1997 before returning to China full-time in 2005.

Jin Li served as dean of Fudan's School of Life Sciences until 2008.

Jin Li is a leading proponent of the model of recent African origin of modern humans.

Jin Li's research presented evidence that the majority of the gene pools in China originated from Africa.

Jin Li's team analyzed the Y chromosomes of males around China and compared this group with those of Southeast Asians and Africans.

Jin Li stated that while his research does not necessarily rule out independent origin, the burden of proof has been shifted to those who believe in independent origin.