Fran Liu (University of Minnesota)

When I was twelve years old, my mother came back from the U.S. and told me that she went to a place called Minnesota. As a twelve years old gal, born and raised in Beijing, I’ve heard of New York, California, but the pronunciation of 明尼苏达(Minnesota) is unique to me. Seven years later, I became one of the undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Currently, as a proud UMN Gopher, I’m leading the University of Minnesota’s China Office in Beijing. The experience of wearing multiple hats in integrated marketing, business development, government relations, community engagement, and crisis management has been rapidly refreshing my skillsets in this leadership role.

I’m running for the Board of Governors at AmCham China because, first, I’m passionate about building a win-win and positive relationship between U.S. and China from business, cultural, and education perspectives. International education is becoming a must-have experience. Education is a key to promoting international business, building mutual understanding, and preparing for global citizens. I would like to provide more benefits between education and business.

Second, as one of the largest research-driven public universities, the University of Minnesota has robust resources to offer to the AmCham China members’ community. With 26 Nobel Prizes, UMN’s expertise covers healthcare, economics, chemistry, k-12 education, technology, and many other industries! And we have close connections with Minnesota’s business community – 18 U.S. Fortune 500 headquarters are based in Minnesota, including UnitedHealth Group, Target, BestBuy, 3M, General Mills, etc.

Third, as a young, energetic, and innovative leader, I’m devoted to serving the AmCham China members’ community professionally and personally. I received my bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s degree in business entrepreneurship (University of Washington – Seattle) from the U.S. This successful learning experience and my current professional role allow me to connect with other U.S. institutions to provide international education opportunities to the AmCham China community. And my expertise in integrated marketing at start-ups and large companies has built a solid foundation to focus on data and actual growing results when I solve problems innovatively.

Last but not least, both James McGregor (a proud UMN alumnus and the former Chairman of the AmCham China) and Jian Lu (current President of LinkedIn China) are two of my wise mentors/friends guiding me along the way of my career development. I saw how dedicated they are to making contributions to U.S. – China relationship and the AmCham China community as my role model. If elected, I will be an active leader and work closely with the Board to address members’ demands to provide advocacy support for the AmCham China community. Thank you for considering me as a candidate for this position.

Fran Fangyuan Liu holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and earned her business master’s degree in entrepreneurship from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business.

In the professional world, Fran has experience in integrated marketing and business development at small to large companies, from start-ups to Fortune 500s. Fran is a passionate and innovative problem-solver who grew business revenue by 400% in one of her entrepreneurial experiences.

Fran first learned of the University of Minnesota when she was 12 years old. She is excited to join her alma mater to enrich the connections between the University and its key stakeholders and strong alumni base in China. After graduating from UMN, Fran served as executive president of the University’s alumni chapter in Beijing and hosted more than 20 alumni events each year.