Educated in China and the United States, Shawn Chen’s career has embraced education, business and entrepreneurism in both countries. His business ventures include the hospitality industry and a steel door manufacturing business that sells its products in China and the United States. He has served as President of The Sias Group, Inc. since 1992. In 1998, with the approval of the Minister of Education and the State Degree Office in China, Chen founded Sias International University, an innovative educational institution through which students, leaders, and scholars from East and West can meet and profit from an exchange of ideas expressed in both Chinese and English.

Located in Henan Province near the City of Zhengzhou in Central China, Sias International University has graduated almost 35,000 seniors. Chen’s future vision for the University, a campus of over 80 new buildings, now includes a 450-acre park, a-state-of-the-art green environmental facility to house the new Institute for Environmental and Social Responsibility, as well as a Medical School. As Founder / Chairman of the University, Chen is solely responsible for financing, planning, implementation and assessment of the university’s overall operations.

Shawn Chen has received many awards from both educational institutions and the governments of China and the United States. Recent recognition includes Resolutions and Commendations from the City of Zhengzhou, the Provincial Government of Henan Province, the Governor of Kansas, the Mayor and City Council of Los Angeles, the Missouri State Legislature, and the Arizona State Legislature. He is an Economic Advisor to Henan Province and is regularly selected by both provincial and national government officials in China to lead cultural and trade delegations throughout the United States. He has also led League of California Cities elected officials and Mayoral associations on trade missions throughout China. Chen is frequently invited as a guest speaker by many American organizations and educational institutions, including Harvard University.

An advocate of life-long learning, Chen’s educational career spans twenty five years and includes a Bachelor’s Degree from Chongqing University in China, an MBA from Willamette University in the United States and most recently, a Special Certificate Program from Harvard University designed specifically for university presidents. He has also participated in advanced study programs at UCLA, and in 1987 received a Master’s Degree in Education from Linfield College. His Honorary Doctorates have been awarded by the University for Humanistic Studies in California, the University of the Cordilleras in the Philippines, and Danubius University in Romania.

Dr. Chen is the incumbent President of the Association of Universities of Asia and the Pacific (AUAP), and an Executive Board Member of the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) and the Presidents’ Circle of Cal Tech University in Southern California.