The Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences congratulates Dr. Jiquan Chen for being named a University Distinguished Professor in recognition of his outstanding achievement in teaching, research, and public service. The recognition is among the highest honors that can be bestowed on a faculty member by the university. Those selected for the title have been recognized nationally and internationally for their exceptional teaching, outstanding record of public service, and scholarly and creative achievements.
In addition to their salary, individuals holding the professorship will receive a stipend of $5,000 per year for five years to support professional activities.
Dr. Chen is a native of Shanxi in Northern China. He received his undergraduate education in grassland ecology from Inner Mongolia University, an M.S. in forest ecology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a Ph.D. in ecosystem Analysis from the University of Washington. His postdoc training was in stream ecology and ecosystem management. He was a Bullard Fellow at Harvard University and was on the faculty at Michigan Tech University (1993-2001) and the University of Toledo (2001-2014).
His research and academic instruction programs focus on ecosystem processes and their interactive feedbacks to the biophysical and human forcing, including community ecology to 3-D canopy structure, forest fragmentation, edge effects, riparian zone, conservation biology, landscape ecology, micrometeorology, and biophysics. His current research lies in the coupled effects of global climate change and human activities on terrestrial ecosystems, global change ecology, bioenergy, carbon/water fluxes, and biophysical modeling.
Dr. Chen is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a fellow of the Ecological Society of America (ESA). He is also the editor-in-chief for Ecological Processes (Springer Nature) and has a book series on Ecosystem Science and Applications (HEP & MSU Press). He is the founder and the chief scientist of the US-China Carbon Consortium (USCCC). He enjoys Thai Chi practice and Buddhist meditation. He is also a member of the Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior (EEBB) Graduate Program and the Environmental Science & Policy Program (ESPP).
Dr. Chen was awarded a 2025 American Association of Geographers (AAG) Distinguished Scholarship Award in recognition of his transformative impact on geography and environmental science. He was also awarded the Scientific Achievement Award by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) in 2024 in recognition of his advancement of science and his promotion of international cooperation in all fields of research related to forestry. The Scientific Achievement Award is the highest honor bestowed by IUFRO every five years and is presented for research results published in scientific journals, proceedings of scientific meetings or books, or appropriate patents or other relevant evidence that demonstrates the importance of the scientific or technical achievement to the advancement of regional or world forestry or forest research.
A reception to honor Dr. Chen and other newly designated University Distinguished Professors will be held on November 20, 2025.