Pingchao Zhu is a professor in the History Department at the University of Idaho. Her teaching and research areas include modern East Asia (modern China and modern Japan), U.S. diplomatic history, the Korean War, U.S.-China relation, and other related topics. Her book on the U.S.-China negotiation strategies during the Korean War ceasefire negotiations was published in 2001. She has published various articles on China’s wartime culture, regional warlords, China’s Korean War POWs, and China’s political and military reforms. Her second book, Guilin’s Wartime Culture: A City at War 1938-1944 was published in October 2015.

She was a Fulbright Scholar at the Graduate International Institute at the Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea, in the fall semester of 2008.

She has also received numerous awards including 2014 Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award from National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), 2013 University of Idaho Excellence in Advising, 2011 UI International Program Distinguish Service Recognition, 2006 University of Idaho Teaching Excellence Award, several UI Alumni Awards and ROTC Faculty Recognition Awards.

Pingchao Zhu is also an international traveler visiting over 50 countries so far to incorporate historical experiences into her teaching and research.

• China's wartime culture.
• Chinese foreign policy
• Modern China, Modern Japan, East Asia
• The Korean War
• U.S. China relations
• U.S. Diplomatic History

Books

    The Americans and Chinese at the Korean War Cease-fire Negotiations, 1950-1953. Edwin Mellen Press, 2001.       

    Wartime Culture in Guilin, 1938-1944: A City at War. New York:  Lexington Books, October 2015

Articles

     "The Guangxi Student Regiments: Youth Power in China's War of Resistance, 1936- 1941," in A Century of Student Movement in China: The Mountain Movers, 1919- 2019,(Lexington Book, 2019), 125-145. (Forthcoming December 2019)

     “Disgraced Soldiers: The Ordeal of the Repatriated POWs of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army from the Korean War,” in The Journal of Chinese Military History, Issue 4.2, 2015, pp. 162-200. 

    “Turner Joy and Sino-UNC Experience at the Korean War Armistice, Talks, 1951-1952,”[特纳乔伊与中朝方在朝鲜战争停战谈判中的较量] in Chinese, in Higher Education, Vol. 4, Dec. 2014.

    “The Power of Public Diplomacy: Re-examining Sino-US Normalization, 1969-1972,” Asian Profile, Vol. 42, No. 5. (October, 2014), 403-414.

    “Mao’s Martyrs: Revolutionary Heroism, Sacrifice, and China’s Tragic Romance of the Korean War,” in Nationalism, War, and Sacrifice: Dying for One’s Country, Richard, A. Koenigsberg, ed., (New York: Library of Social Science, 2014), online publication May 16, 2014.

    “Political Institutionalization and New Civil-Military Relations,” in Evolution of Power: China’s Struggle, Survival, and Success, Xiaobing Li & Xiansheng Tian, eds. (Lexington Books, 2013), 207-227.

    “Wartime Power Politics between the Nationalist Government and the Guangxi Warlords, 1931-45,” in Hierarchy and Power in the History of Civilization: The Political Aspects of Modernity, Leonid E. Grinin, Dmitri D.  Beliaev, & Andrey V. Korotayev, eds. (URSS Press, 2009), 101-108.

    “The Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War Culture in Global Perspective,” in America on the World Stage: US History in a Global Perspective, by Organization of American Historians, Gary Reichard & Ted Dickson eds. (The University of Illinois Press, 2008), 208-216.

    “A City at War: Politics and Culture in Wartime Guilin, 1938-44,” in The American Review of Chinese Studies (Spring 2006) Vol. 7, No. 1, 1-18.

• Faculty Advisor for the Golden Key International Honors Society University of Idaho Chapter, 2006-present.
• Director, UI Confucius Institute, June-Dec 2013

• Outstanding Faculty Advising Award, National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), April 2014
• Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Region 8, December, 2013.
• Excellence in Advising (Faculty), University of Idaho, March, 2013
• Martin Scholars Faculty Mentorship, “Global Diplomacy,” the University of Idaho International Studies Program, 2013-2014.
• Distinguished Advisor/Service Award, Golden Key International Honors Society, 2012.
• Distinguished Service Recognition, University of Idaho International Studies Program, 2011.
• US Marine Corps Educators workshop (by invitation), Marine Corps Base Quantico, July 11-15, 2011.
• Fulbright Lecture/Research Fellowship Award, The Graduate Institute for Peace Studies at Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea, Fall Semester, 2008.
• UI Army ROTC Achievement Award, 2007.
• Teaching Excellence Award, University of Idaho, 2006.
• UI Alumni Awards for Excellence, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.
• UI Navy ROTC Faculty Recognition Awards, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2011.
• Research Fellowship (at Academia Sinica, Taiwan), Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholars Exchange, summer of 2007.
• Seed Grants, Research Office, University of Idaho, 2000, 2002, 2006.
• University of Idaho Faculty Development Award for University Study Abroad Consortium program in Madrid, Spain, Summer 2005