Elizabeth J. Perry, Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute, is also the Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government at Harvard University. Born in China and raised in Japan, Professor Perry holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan and taught at the Universities of Arizona, Washington (Seattle), and California (Berkeley) before moving to Harvard in 1997. Her research focuses on popular protest and grassroots politics in modern and contemporary China. She is currently writing a book on the politics of the labor movement at the Anyuan coal mine in central China.

A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, Perry sits on the editorial boards of nearly a dozen scholarly journals and served recently as President of the Association for Asian Studies. Her books, two of which have been translated into Chinese, include Rebels and Revolutionaries in North China, 1845-1945; Proletarian Power: Shanghai Workers in the Cultural Revolution; Challenging the Mandate of Heaven: Social Protest and State Power in China; and Patrolling the Revolution: Worker Militias, Citizenship and the Modern Chinese State. Her book, Shanghai on Strike: The Politics of Chinese Labor was awarded the John King Fairbank prize of the American Historical Association for the best book in East Asian history.

Ms. Alpert has been working at the Institute since 1990. She graduated from Colby College as an East Asian Studies major and spent her junior year abroad living in Kyoto, Japan, studying at Doshisha University. She began her work career at Harvard University, first in the President's Office, then in the Reischauer Institute and finally at the Harvard-Yenching Institute starting first as the Visiting Scholars Program Coordinator. During her years at the Institute she has enjoyed getting to know many Visiting Scholars and learning about nonprofit organization and management. In her free time, Ms. Alpert enjoys the sport of ice-dancing, both skating and teaching.

Ms. Witham is a graduate of Boston College where she majored in English literature and received a teaching degree. She taught high school English for several years, including English as a Second Language. She has been working at the Harvard-Yenching Institute since 1995. Along with her administrative duties, she finds great satisfaction and enjoyment in planning and leading various events and trips for the visiting scholars program.

Ms. Li Ruohong graduated from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, with a B.A. in Philosophy, and finished her M. Phil from St. Antony's College, University of Oxford. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in Inner Asian Studies. She joined the Harvard-Yenching Institute in 2001, and currently works as Assistant Director for Academic Programs and Planning. She was a short-term visiting assistant professor at Wellesley College and Boston University. Her academic fields of specialty include Qing Tibetan relations in the 18th century, ethnic conflicts and interaction in China's border land. She has been taking great interest in the history and development of higher education in China and the United States, and greatly enjoys working for visiting scholars and fellows at the Institute.

Ms. Lindsay Strogatz graduated from McGill University with a B.A. in Medical History and Anthropology. She has also studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and at Beijing Normal University, where she completed intensive Mandarin courses before joining the Harvard-Yenching Institute in 2007. In addition to offering administrative and research support to the Director, she works on organizing Institute conferences and managing the website.