Prof. Mao obtained his bachelor degree from USTC (1988, China), PhD from Princeton (1992). He was a CfA Fellow at Harvard from 1992 to 1995. He then travelled around, spending almost 5 years in Germany (Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics) and 10 years in the UK (Manchester), becoming a full professor in 2006. He eventually returned to China with his family (叶落归根) through the one thousand talent program (千人计划).