China’s educational system is undergoing a radical transformation—from an emphasis on rote memorization to teaching styles that emphasize critical and creative-thinking skills. And Chen Weiming is at the forefront of that change. Chen is founder of Xing Wei College, a first-of-its-kind, privately run institution outside of Shanghai that is modeled after American liberal arts colleges, with classes taught by American professors. “We want students who have the courage to pursue their desires, to know what they really want; that’s different from the traditional definition of top students,” says Chen. The son of a scientist and a brain surgeon, Chen learned the value of education at an early age, graduating from an American high school and Boston University before coming to Harvard Business School. After his return to China in 1994, he worked at large multinationals and in banking before purchasing the site that would become Xing Wei College in 2005 (it opened in 2012). “Liberal education prepares you for the rest of your life,” he says. “We want to introduce different ways of thinking.”

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