XIANG Haifan was born in Shanghai in December 1935. He is a Member of Chinese Academy of Engineering and a national level expert. He obtained his first degree in bridge and tunnel engineering from Tongji University in 1955. He was awarded his master's degree in bridge engineering from Tongji University in 1958. He is the president of School of Civil Engineering of Tongji University and director of the State Key Laboratory for Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering.
As a well-known expert in bridge and structure engineering in our country, Professor Xiang is one of pioneering researchers on wind resistance of long-span bridges and one of the leading figures in the field of wind engineering in our country. He has been involved in the research on the theory of bridge structure and engineering control for decades. In recent years his has focused his research on wind resistance of long-span bridges and wind resistance of high rise structures. He has made remarkable achievements in the areas of flutter and buffeting analysis of bridges, dynamic characteristics of bridges, wind-induced vibration and its control of bridges. He has undertaken a dozen national projects funded by Shanghai Municipal Government and government bodies from other provinces and over thirty important engineering research programs. Among them On Theory of Wind-Induced Vibration and its Control of Long-Span Bridges won the fourth prize of National Natural Science Award in 1995 and the first prize of the Advancement of Science and Technology awarded by the State Education Commission. Project of Shanghai Nanpu Bridge won the first prize of National Advancement of Science and Technology. The State Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering was ranked as A class in an accreditation done by the State Planning Committee and the State Science Committee and has become a center of research on wind resistance of bridges and structures. He has published over a hundred papers and seven books since 1978, among which China Bridges for which he acted a chief editor was awarded the first prize of Shanghai Excellent Books. He has supervised 28 Masters students, 25 doctoral students and 3 post-doctoral students.
He is a member of the Committee of Science and Technology of the State Education Commission, Secretary general of Society of Bridge and Structure Engineering, deputy director of Society of Wind Engineering, vice chairman of Shanghai Society for Vibration Engineering, a standing member (representing China) of International Association for Bridges and Structural Engineering (IABSE), and an international correspondent for the United Bridge Design Committee of American Society for Civil Engineering (ASCE) and American Concrete Institution (ACI).
