On April 1, 2026, Professor James J. Heckman, the 2000 Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics, the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, and the recipient of the 2019 Chinese Government Friendship Award, visited IESR on the Shipai Campus of Jinan University.

This marks the tenth time Professor Heckman has visited IESR, where he has served as the Chair of the Advisory Board since IESR’s foundation. During his visit, Professor Heckman engaged in intensive discussions with IESR research fellows and doctoral students on cutting-edge topics including human capital development, early childhood intervention, and causal inference methodologies. He also reviewed ongoing collaborative projects and offered strategic guidance on IESR’s long-term academic vision.

A Decade of Growth: A Lasting Academic Friendship Across the Pacific

On March 14, 2016, Professor Heckman visited Jinan University for the first time at the invitation of Professor Shuaizhang Feng, Dean of IESR. At that time, IESR had only been established for three months. Professor Heckman delivered a lecture titled “Creating and Measuring Capabilities” to hundreds of faculty and students in the International Hall, followed by a face-to-face exchange with six student representatives from universities across Guangdong Province.

During his first visit, Professor Heckman and Professor Shuaizhang Feng engaged in in-depth discussions on IESR’s development plan, the construction of a large-scale micro-database, and research on child development. Professor Heckman’s research focus, that is, child development in the context of population mobility, became the core area of cooperation between the two sides for the following decade.

In October of the same year, Professor Heckman was honored as the Chairman of the Advisory Board of IESR, Jinan University. After the ceremony, Professor delivered a lecture titled “The Life Cycle Benefits of an Influential Early Childhood Intervention.” This appointment marked a new stage in the institutionalization and normalization of cooperation between IESR and Professor Heckman.

Professor Xianzhong Song (left) and Professor Heckman(right)

Under Professor Heckman’s leadership, IESR has achieved fruitful results across multiple areas, including academic exchanges, international collaborative research, talent training, and the co-construction of academic platforms.

Since July 2016, IESR and the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, the Center for the Economics of Human Development (CEHD) initiative, have co-hosted the Summer School on Socioeconomic Inequality at JinanUniversity for consecutive years.

In September2016, Professor Heckman collaborated with Professor Shuaizhang Feng to launch the Longitudinal Study of Children’s Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Ability Development in Mianzhu City, providing solid empirical evidence for China’s early childhood development policies.

In June 2018, IESR and CEHD formally co-launched the Chicago-Jinan Joint Initiative on the Study of Human Development, which serves as a research home for IESR students and faculty, as well as for visiting scholars from a range of guest institutions.

In September 2019, Professor Heckman received the Chinese Government Friendship Award, the highest honor in China granted to foreign experts, for his outstanding contributions to early childhood education for left-behind children in China and high-level talent exchange and cooperation between China and the United States.

In addition, Professor Heckman has visited Jinan University multiple times over the past decade to deliver public lectures and to participate in a series of academic events, attracting tens of thousands of Jinan faculty and students.

From 2016 to 2026: A Decade of Partnership

Over the past decade, Professor Heckmanhas witnessed IESR’s journey from its nascent beginnings to robust growth. He has repeatedly expressed his deep appreciation for his collaborative relationship with Jinan University and for the research projects he has undertaken in China. Also, he stressed that China’s development practices have provided fertile ground for economic research, and IESR has been a steadfast partner for him on this soil.

Ten visits to IESR, a friendship that endures. This academic bond, spanning the Pacific, has taken root and flourished on the Jinan campus. Standing at a new starting point, IESR will continue to join hands with Professor Heckman, embracing broader perspectives and conducting more solid research, as together they write the next brilliant chapter of the decade to come.