Awards
- Honorary Degree - 2012
- L.H.D.
- Lecture by Yi Gang at IUPUI
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Presenter: Michael A. McRobbie
About Yi Gang
Yi Gang is Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Hamline University in Minnesota and a master's degree and a doctoral degree in economics at the University of Illinois.
Dr. Yi was an assistant and associate professor of economics at IUPUI from 1986 to 1994. At the time of his initial appointment to IU's faculty, Dr. Yi was principally an expert in econometric theory, the application of advanced statistical techniques to describe, model, prove, and predict economic theory and systems. By the time he left, he had become an expert on China's monetary and financial sectors. In 1994, he published Money, Banking, and Financial Markets in China, a comprehensive study which helped to cement his reputation as one of the leading experts on China's monetary system.
With good economists in high demand in China in academia, industry, and government, Dr. Yi returned to China in late 1994 to join the faculty of Peking University, one of China's top two universities, often called the Harvard of China. He was one of the first western-trained economists to return to work in China. In addition to his teaching and advising duties at Peking University, Dr. Yi became deputy director of the university's China Center for Economic Research, a center that was also home to Dr. Justin Lin, the first Chinese citizen to serve as the Chief Economist of the World Bank
In 1997, Dr. Yi joined the People's Bank of China, the Chinese central bank, serving as deputy secretary-general, and in 2002, he was promoted to secretary-general. In 2008, he was appointed deputy governor of the People's Bank, and in 2009, he also became the administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
In this position, Dr. Yi is the guardian of China's 3.2-trillion-dollar foreign currency reserves, and he is a principal figure in the progress and stability of our global economy. He has initiated exemplary, innovative practices that have transformed China's financial structures and garnered high praise. Since his return to China, Dr. Yi has devoted himself to public service, and he has demonstrated a remarkable ability to identify social needs, propose innovations, and implement reforms. He is currently the highest-ranking Chinese official with a Ph.D. in economics from abroad, and in this capacity, he serves as a role model for other Chinese intellectuals, demonstrating how to use their knowledge to bring about desirable changes in China's modernization efforts.
Dr. Yi has published dozens of articles and academic papers in Chinese and English. He is the author of ten books and is widely consulted for his expertise.