Biography

Dr James Zhang holds the positions of Adjunct Associate Professor of Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Adjunct Associate Professor of Finance at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and Associate Professor of Science Practice at HKUST. With extensive experience as an entrepreneur and investor in both the United States and Greater China, Dr Zhang currently serves as an Advisor to the Chairman and former Chief Investment Officer of Great Eagle Holdings. Additionally, he is a Partner at VU Venture Partners and a Venture Partner of the GRC Fund.

Previously, Dr Zhang was a co-founder and partner of Formation 8, a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley with several billion dollars under management and an early investor in unicorns such as Oculus VR, Wish.com, Oscar Health, OpenGov, and Blend Labs. Before co-founding Formation 8, Dr Zhang held the position of Venture Partner at Softbank China Venture Capital and at Khosla Ventures, two of the most esteemed venture capital firms in Greater China and the United States, respectively.

As a biotechnologist, Dr Zhang has also co-founded several biotechnology companies both in China and the US. He has also made notable investments in LanzaTech and Rancher Labs.

Teaching Areas

Entrepreneurship
Venture Capital

• Publications & Working Papers
  • Gutterson N. and Zhang J.Z. (2009), “Important Issues and Current Status of Bioenergy Crop Policy,” Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining, 3, 441–447.
  • Zhang J.Z., Creelman R.A., and Zhu J.K. (2004), “From Laboratory to Field – Using Arabidopsis to Engineer Salt, Freezing, and Drought Tolerant Crops,” Plant Physiology, 135, 615-621.
  • Gutterson N. and Zhang J.Z. (2004), “Application of Biotechnology Developed from Genomics Studies,” Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 7, 226-230.
  • Zhang J.Z. (2003), “Overexpression Analysis of Plant Transcription Factors,” Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 6, 430-440.
  • Haake V., Cook D., Riechmann J.L., Pineda O., Thomashow M.F., and Zhang J.Z. (2002), “Transcription Factor CBF4 Is a Regulator of Drought Adaptation in Arabidopsis,” Plant Physiology, 130, 639-648.
  • Jaglo K.R., Kleff S., Amundsen K., Zhang X., Haake V., Zhang J.Z., Deits T., and Thomashow M.F. (2001), “Components of the Arabidopsis CBF Cold-Response Pathway Are Conserved in Brassica napus and Other Plant Species,” Plant Physiology, 127, 910-917.
  • Riechmann, Heard, Martin, Reuber, Jiang, Keddie, Adam, Pineda, Ratcliffe, Samaha, Creelman, Pilgrim, Broun, Zhang J.Z., Ghandehari, Sherman, and Yu (2000), “Arabidopsis Transcription Factors: Genome-Wide Comparative Analysis Among Eukaryotes,” Science, 290, 2105-2110.
  • Ratcliffe O.J., Riechmann J.L., and Zhang J.Z. (2000), “INTERFASCICULAR FIBERLESS 1 Is the Same Gene as REVOLUTA,” Plant Cell, 12(3), 315-317.
  • Riechmann J.L., Zhang J.Z., and Broun P. (1999), “Plant Genomics: The Next Green Revolution?” Chemistry and Industry, 12, 468-472.
  • Zhang J.Z. and Somerville C.R. (1997), “Suspensor-Derived Polyembryony Caused by Altered Expression of Valyl-tRNA Synthetase in the twn2 Mutant of Arabidopsis,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 94(14), 7349-7355.
  • Zhang J.Z., Santes C.M., Engel M.L., Gasser C.S., and Harada J.J. (1996), “DNA Sequences That Activate Isocitrate Lyase Gene Expression During Late Embryogenesis and During Postgerminative Growth,” Plant Physiology, 110, 1069-1079.
  • Zhang J.Z., Laudencia-Chingcuanco D.L., Comai L., Li M., and Harada J.J. (1994), “Isocitrate Lyase and Malate Synthase Genes from Brassica napus L. Are Active in Pollen,” Plant Physiology, 104, 857-864.
  • Zhang J.Z., Gomez-Pedrozo M., Baden C.S., and Harada J.J. (1993), “Two Classes of Isocitrate Lyase Genes Are Expressed During Late Embryogeny and Postgermination in Brassica napus L.,” Molecular and General Genetics, 238, 177–184.

• Awards & Honours
  • Recognition of Excellent Teaching Performance, HKUST Business School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2022-2023

• Academic/Professional Services

  Public company

  • Board of Directors, Chenghe Acquisition I (Nasdaq: LATGU) (current)
  • Board of Directors, Chenghe Acquisition II (NYSE: CHEB) (current)
  • Fellow, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Entrepreneurship Center