Jian Zhao graduated from Tianjin University of Science and Technology in July 1999 with a Ph.D. in Engineering. In the same year, he entered the State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology of Shandong University to conduct research as Postdoctoral Fellow. After it, he stayed at Shandong university and was appointed as an associate professor and master's supervisor in 2001, and full professor and doctoral supervisor in 2005, respectively. From September 2006 to September 2007, he was a visiting scholar at the Department of Biology of Concordia University in Canada, and from September 2014 to May 2015, he was a senior research scholar at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include Research and development, production and application of lignocellulose degrading enzymes, Fractionation, bioconversion and high-value utilization of lignocellulosic biomass.