Previously he had been the co-director of the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in the PRC, and the president of China Institute in America.

His undergraduate thesis was A seated wooden Kuan-yin in the Fogg Art Museum: an analysis of style and an examination of Chinese Buddhist iconography.

While abroad he met Paul Hsu, alumnus and board member of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, who encouraged him to pursue graduate studies there.

Harold Y. Wachman was a professor and a director of graduate studies in the department of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Geostrategic Rationales for China's Territorial Integrity (2007) contributed to the understanding of cross-strait relations, and informed policy making.

During his last years he was working on completing a book about Mongolia’s national security in the context of emerging rivalries among great powers in Asia.