Li Lan

Li Lan is a distinguished Chair Professor at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), serving as Director of the Language Competence and Language Recognition Center and President of Shuli Academy. Previously, he held significant positions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, including Vice Director (2003-2012) and Director (2013-2016) of the Dialect Studies Program.

His research interests span Chinese dialectology, phonology, dialect grammar, history of Chinese language, and international phonetic alphabet. Professor Li specializes in dialect survey methodology and has led numerous major research projects, including the "Demonstrative dialectal survey and research of the crucial dialectal regions in China" (2013-2019) and "The collection and digitalization of the dialectal data in local records" (2015-2020).

His extensive publication record reveals a consistent focus on Chinese dialect classification, historical phonology, and linguistic documentation. His most recent work addresses critical issues in dialect preservation, phonological analysis, and language policy, with particular attention to regional variations across China's diverse linguistic landscape.

• Second Prize of Wang Li Linguistics Award from Peking University (2005)
• Wu Yuzhang Award for Excellence in Humanities and Social Sciences (2002)
• National Dictionary Award First Prize (2003)
• China Publishing Government Award nomination (2013)

Professor Li actively mentors doctoral students and has served on the Academic Committee of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences since 2015. His research has received substantial funding from National Social Sciences Grants and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Innovation Projects. Beyond pure academic research, he has established significant connections between linguistic scholarship and practical language policy through his work with government bodies.

His scholarly work is complemented by leadership in major research platforms including the Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics (as associate editor-in-chief since 2007) and various national dialect documentation initiatives.