Dr. Jie Chen holds the named professorship, William Borah Distinguished Professor of Political Science, and serves as Dean of the College of Graduate Studies at University of Idaho. He also holds the titles of the Changjiang Scholar Chair Professorship and Zhiyuan Chair Professorship bestowed, respectively, by the Ministry of Education, PRC, and by Shanghai Jiaotong University, China. He served as a Fulbright Scholar conducting survey research in China in 2002, and a residential research fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in 2001-2002.
Dr. Chen has authored and co-authored five books on Chinese politics and U.S. foreign policy. His most recent and forthcoming books include Popular Political Support in Urban China (Stanford University Press, 2004), and Allies of the State: China's Private Entrepreneurs and Democratic Change (co-authored with Bruce Dickson, Harvard University Press, 2010). His forthcoming book, Contingent Democratic Supporters: the Middle Class and the Prospects for Democracy in China, will be published by Oxford University Press. He has also authored and co-authored many refereed articles on contemporary Chinese politics, which appeared in scholarly journals, such as Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Public Opinion Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, the China Quarterly, Asian Survey, Modern China, and Journal of Contemporary China.
Dr. Chen received research grants from National Science Foundation to conduct research projects on the political roles of the middle class and private entrepreneurs in China.