Board of Directors, Officers, and Staff

Members of the Board of Directors (In Alphabetical Order)

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Ph.D. Dr. Blanchard is Founding Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (USA), a boutique, independent California-based think tank, and the creator and producer of the timely “Musings about Multinational Corporations” podcast. He also currently serves as the General Editor of the Routledge Series on the Political Economy of Asia, as an editorial board member of several top-ranked China- and Asia-oriented academic journals, and is a member of the (USA) National Committee on United States-China Relations. A specialist in international political economy and foreign direct investment (FDI), he is a co-author of Economic Statecraft and Foreign Policy, the editor or co-editor of and a contributor to 20 edited books and special journal issues, and the author of more than 80 articles, book chapters, and other publications, many relating to FDI in China, outward FDI (OFDI) from China, and Chinese foreign economic policy. A leading expert on China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative and China’s Digital Silk Road (DSR), Dr. Blanchard currently is leading research projects on Chinese seaports, China’s DSR, and the effects of Chinese OFDI. Dr. Blanchard earlier served as the Associate Director of a China Center in San Francisco, California (USA). He received his Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and A.B. in Economics from U.C. Berkeley. He is frequently interviewed by international media and has done consulting work for business, government, and think tanks. Prior to his career in academia/research, Dr. Blanchard worked for the U.S. Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corporation and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, where he received several awards, and the investment banking firm Kelling, Northcross, & Nobriga. Dr. Blanchard is an active member of the Rotary Club of Los Gatos (California) where he holds several leadership positions.

C. Lawrence Greenwood, Jr. “Larry” Greenwood is Chairman of the Board of the Japan Society of Northern California and Senior Adviser at BowerGroupAsia, a strategic advisory firm that specializes in the Asia-Pacific. From 2016-2019, he was President of the Japan Society of Northern California. Prior to that position, he was Senior Managing Director for Government Relations in Asia for MetLife based in Tokyo. Joining the company in May 2011, he was responsible for working with governments, legislatures and industry associations to shape financial policies and regulations in Asia. Greenwood served from 2006-2011 as Vice President at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila, Philippines where he oversaw ADB’s annual loan and grant operations of about $7 billion in East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Island countries. During his tenure, he helped lead the Bank’s tripling of both its lending and capital, increase its budget, and enhance its development effectiveness. Greenwood was a career diplomat from 1976-2006 where he served in a variety of positions in the State Department in Washington, DC and at U.S. Embassies in Manila, Dakar, Tokyo, and Singapore. He served twice in the Embassy in Tokyo from 1986-1991 and from 1996-2000. Greenwood served as U.S. Ambassador to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group from 2000-2003 and led the team supporting presidential participation in APEC Summits in Brunei, Shanghai, and Los Cabos. He retired in 2006 as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Economic Bureau of the State Department where he was responsible for international financial and development matters, including serving as lead negotiator for the restructuring of Iraqi debt in 2005. Greenwood holds a BA from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida and an MALD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford Massachusetts.

Kai Kit Wong. Ph.D.. Dr. Wong has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations since it came into being in 2015. He also is a high-tech entrepreneur, philanthropist, and real estate developer, portfolio manager, and investor. Dr. Wong currently overseas a large portfolio of service apartments in Hong Kong and has created a half-dozen technology startups in fields such as e-Learning, Engineering, and artificial intelligence. Dr. Wong previously served as a Professor of Engineering at Cooper Union (New York) and a Professor and Administrator in the Civil Engineering Department at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Prior to this he worked as an Engineer in the private sector. Dr. Wong takes special pride in two non-profits he has founded, one which uses technology to facilitate student learning and another which uses technology to help the elderly. Dr. Wong earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) and his B.S. from the University of Hong Kong.

Theodore Wong, Ph.D. Dr. Wong is a technology leader and systems architect with a distinguished career spanning cognitive computing research, genomics infrastructure, and machine learning systems engineering.  He earned a PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master of Engineering from Cornell University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering Science from Oxford University.  Over more than two decades, Dr. Wong has held research and engineering roles at IBM Research—where he led projects on cognitive computing architectures and distributed systems—as well as senior engineering positions in biotech and health technology firms including Illumina, Human Longevity, and 23andMe, where he most recently served as Engineering Manager for Health Machine Learning.  In 2025, he founded Fantail MV, providing software systems architecture and AI/ML-focused engineering services.  His work bridges foundational research and real-world software products, with refereed publications and technical contributions across machine learning, data infrastructure, and large-scale computing.

Officers (In Alphabetical order)

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Ph.D., Founding Executive Director. Please see above for further information.

Bas Hooijmaaijers, Ph.D., Corporate Treasurer. Dr. Hooijmaaijers is Senior Business Controller, long-term care at CZ, one of the largest health insurance companies in the Netherlands. Previously, he was Senior Business Research Fellow at the Wong MNC Center, Associate Research Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations at East China Normal University (Shanghai, China) and Research Fellow at the Leuven International and European Studies Institute at KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium). He is the author of Unpacking EU Policy-making towards China (2021). He has published in leading journals and contributed to ad hoc studies for the European Parliament. Dr. Hooijmaaijers obtained his Ph.D. in 2016 from Shanghai Jiaotong University’s School of International and Public Affairs (China).

Jennifer Zou, Corporate Secretary. Ms. Zou serves as Senior Vice President of Global Initiatives and Head of China Initiative at the Bay Area Council.  She organizes major delegations and events connecting business and government leaders to the region.  She manages the council’s operations in China, grows the council’s business and brand in China, and maintains government relations with multiple provinces & cities and with more than 50 BAC member companies operating across China.  She helps California companies expand to China, increase California’s exports to China, and attract Chinese investment into California.  She joined the council since 2010 and served many roles such as Director of Shanghai Office, Vice President of Global Initiatives, and Head of Operations in China over the years.