PAN Haihua

Prof. PAN Haihua is a Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he has served since December 2015. Previously, he held academic positions at City University of Hong Kong (1995-2015), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (1986-1988), and was a Research Associate at CUHK in 1995. He earned his BA from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, MA from Wuhan University, and PhD from the University of Texas, USA.

His educational background includes:

• BA, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
• MA, Wuhan University, China
• PhD, University of Texas, USA

Prof. PAN's research centers on theoretical Chinese linguistics with emphases on formal semantics and syntax. His work systematically investigates reflexives, quantification, focus phenomena, and information structure in Mandarin Chinese. He has made foundational contributions to understanding donkey anaphora, negative polarity items, and the syntax-semantics interface, often bridging empirical Chinese data with universal linguistic theory. His methodological approach combines formal analysis with psycholinguistic insights, particularly in sentence processing and comprehension constraints.

Analysis of his recent publications (2022-2025) reveals sustained focus on syntactic structures and semantic interpretation in Chinese, with recurring themes in quantification (especially the dou operator), anaphora resolution, and information-structural phenomena like cleft constructions and focus marking. His work consistently addresses theoretical puzzles at the syntax-semantics-pragmatics interface, demonstrating how Chinese data challenges and refines broader linguistic frameworks.

His distinguished honors include:

• Changjiang Scholar-Chair Professor by China's Ministry of Education (2012)
• KC Wong Foundation Scholar (2010)

Prof. PAN has held significant academic leadership roles including Associate Dean for Postgraduate Education and Research at City University of Hong Kong (2005-2010), President of the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (2010-2011), and Executive Committee member of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (2004-2006). He serves as a reviewer for premier journals including Language, Linguistic Inquiry, and Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, and has published two research monographs on Chinese reflexives and formal semantics while editing two volumes on Chinese linguistics and focus phenomena.