UW–Madison’s Qing Liu, a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, has been awarded the 2024 Claude A. Eggertsen Dissertation Prize from the History of Education Society.

Liu completed her PhD in higher education at the University of California, Berkeley. Her dissertation, titled “Unexpected Immigrants: Chinese Scholars in American Universities, 1940s-1980s,” explores Chinese scholars’ experiences in American universities during the Cold War era.
This work impressed the Eggertsen Dissertation Prize Committee with its nuanced analysis of how transnational events shaped the lives and identities of Chinese scholars in the U.S.
According to the committee, Liu’s dissertation is a “beautifully written” work that effectively blends primary sources with a sophisticated grasp of secondary literature. It “not only directly deepens our understanding of the dynamics of the Cold War university, but provides important contributions to conceptions of citizenship, transnational identity, and the interactions between the individual and global forces,” the award letter states.
Liu will be honored with a $1,000 award and has the opportunity to present her research during a panel session at the History of Education Society’s annual meeting in Chicago this November.