Microsoft appointed Dr. Lidong Zhou, Distinguished Scientist of Microsoft as Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia. He is responsible for the lab’s overall research and development activities in both Beijing and Shanghai and will also oversee the lab’s collaborations with academic and industrial partners in China and the Asia Pacific region.
During his 14 years as Managing Director, Dr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon led Microsoft Research Asia to new heights, whether it was in research innovation, academic cooperation, talent fostering, or technology applications, and laid a solid foundation for future development. As Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group, Dr. Hon will continue to be responsible for driving Microsoft’s overall R&D strategy and ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific region.
Dr. Peter Lee, Corporate Vice President, Research and Incubations, at Microsoft, stated: “Microsoft Research Asia has always been a uniquely valuable part of Microsoft. It has been responsible for many of the world’s most impactful technological innovations and cutting-edge research. Together, Hon, Lidong, and the leadership teams of Microsoft Research and Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group, will ensure that Microsoft is able to focus on key priorities and meet the needs of our customers through world-class research.”
Dr. Lidong Zhou joined Microsoft in 2002 and previously worked at Microsoft Research’s Silicon Valley lab as a researcher, at the Redmond lab as a principal researcher and Research Manager of the Systems Research Group, and at the Beijing lab as Assistant Managing Director. Dr. Zhou is a renowned computer scientist specializing in computer systems research. Throughout his career, he has been continuously advancing the state of the art in both the theory and practice of scalable, reliable, and trustworthy distributed systems. As a key technical lead for Microsoft in the design and development of large-scale distributed systems, Dr. Zhou has initiated and successfully led a series of important distributed system projects that support a wide range of Microsoft products and services, from search engines and big data infrastructure to cloud systems and AI infrastructure.
Lidong Zhou, Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia
Dr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon expressed: “Dr. Lidong Zhou has not only earned distinguished reputation in the field of system research, but also has proven to be a trustworthy leader. I believe that Dr. Zhou will lead Microsoft Research Asia to continue to advance courageously in the field of scientific research and innovation.”