He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering and M.S. in Highway and Railway Engineering from Tongji University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from Clemson University. He is an Associate Member of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Member of American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Member of Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS), Member of The United States Universities Council on Geotechnical Education and Research (USUCGER), and Member of TC304 Engineering Practice of Risk Assessment & Management of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). He is currently serving on the editorial board of International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering (Maney Publishing, UK) and Marine Georesources & Geotechnology (Taylor & Francis).