Mondher Bouzayen Named as Qiushi Chair Professor

On April 11, Prof. Mondher Bouzayen, Member of the Academy of Europe, was appointed as Qiushi Chair Professor of Zhejiang University.

Prof. Mondher Bouzayen led the French contribution to the Multinational “Tomato Genome Sequencing” Project and is currently heading the Genomics and Biotechnology of Fruit laboratory, a joint unit between the National Institute of Agronomical Research (INRA) and the Toulouse National Institute of Polytechnics (INPT). His research is primarily focused on the characterization of ripening associated genes and particularly those involved in ethylene and auxin signaling as well as hormone cross-talk during fruit set, development and ripening. His research work yielded over 100 papers, all related to fruit biology, fruit ripening and fruit quality and published in international peer-reviewed journals, such as Nature Biotechnology, Nature, PNAS, The Plant Cell and The Plant Journal.

At the appointment ceremony, Wu Zhaohui, President of Zhejiang University, extended his cordial welcome to Prof. Mondher Bouzayen. He stressed that international cooperation, particularly partnership with elite scholars, teams and universities, is vital to promoting ZJU’s comprehensive strengths. Prof. Mondher Bouzayen felt excited about being a member of the ZJU community. Meanwhile, he introduced relevant information about the Toulouse National Institute of Polytechnics and looked forward to partnering with ZJU in research and postgraduate programs. He also hoped to engage in cooperative research in horticulture and thought it of supreme importance that ZJU should set up a cross-disciplinary collaborative horticulture research center.