On May 16, Nankai University held an appointment ceremony on Jinnan Campus for Zhou Ruxin, Founder and Chairman of Beijing BDStar Navigation Co., Ltd. (BDStar), as a Trustee of the university. Zhou Ruxin is an alumnus who enrolled as an undergraduate in the Department of Mathematics in 1979 and as a master’s student in the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences in 1986. Yang Qingshan, Secretary of the CPC Nankai University Committee and Chair of the Nankai University Education Foundation, presented Zhou Ruxin with the appointment letter and badge of the trustee. Fang Yongchun, Vice President of Nankai University, announced the university’s decision on Zhou Ruxin’s appointment.

Before the ceremony, Yang Qingshan met with Zhou Ruxin and other guests for in-depth discussions on the university’s development, the building of its artificial intelligence discipline and alumni engagement and support.

On behalf of the university, Yang Qingshan expressed sincere gratitude to Zhou Ruxin and BDStar for their long-standing support for Nankai University. Yang Qingshan said Nankai alumni have played an irreplaceable role in advancing the university’s high-quality development by contributing ideas, resources and platforms in key areas including discipline development, talent cultivation, scientific research and social service. Yang Qingshan also introduced the development history and achievements of Nankai University’s artificial intelligence discipline. He noted that Nankai University entered the field early, beginning related research as early as the 1970s, and the College of Artificial Intelligence was formally established in 2018. The appointment ceremony, he said, will further bring together alumni support and empower the high-quality development of the discipline.

Zhou Ruxin expressed gratitude for the education he received from his alma mater and thanked the university for the trust reflected in his appointment as a trustee. He said that he would faithfully fulfill his responsibilities and fully support the university’s development across all areas. He also expressed hope that Nankai University would continue to align itself into national development strategies, deepen its work in related disciplines, and achieve new breakthroughs and greater success in key fields of science and technology.

In May 2026, Zhou Ruxin donated to Nankai University to establish the Lu Guizhang Fund for Artificial Intelligence Development. The fund will focus on supporting the high-quality development of Nankai University’s artificial intelligence and related disciplines. It aims to help the university better align these disciplines with major national strategic needs, build a leading disciplinary benchmark, and inject strong momentum into the university’s research breakthroughs, talent cultivation and platform development in artificial intelligence.

（Edited and translated by Nankai News Team.)