Pericles Lewis, Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature and Professor of English at Yale University, serves as vice president for global strategy and vice provost for academic initiatives. Reporting to the president and the provost, he is responsible for ensuring that the broader global initiatives of the university serve Yale’s academic goals and priorities.

Lewis leads the planning for the Schwarzman Center, set to open in 2021, and the new Yale Jackson School for Global Affairs, which is scheduled to open in 2022. He provides oversight for the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning and the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies and works closely with the leadership of Yale-NUS College, the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in London, the Yale Center Beijing, and the Yale Institute for Global Health.

Ning Zhang was the Deputy Secretary-General of China Scholarship Council from 2014-2020. Prior to this, he served as the Counselor in the Education Section of the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm from 2008-2013, and the Assistant to the Director-General and the Director of the Division of Study Abroad of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchange, Ministry of Education of P. R. China from 2002-2008. He also worked at the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco from 1999-2002 and the State Education Commission from 1986-1997.

Zhang got his Bachelor's Degree in Physics from Peking University, Master's Degree in Acoustics from Chinese Academy of Science, and Doctorate in Social Sciences from Renmin University of China. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at Zhejiang University and Renmin University of China.