Governance

Bob Eng, Ed.D., Chair
Dr. Eng has had a unique career as both an educator and investment professional. A product of 11 years of after-school Chinese language education, he also taught bilingually in New York.  Bob holds a master's degree in bilingual childhood education from Brooklyn College at the City University of New York and a doctorate in human development and psychology from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education.  In addition to NYC public schools, Bob has taught in the education department at Colgate University and graduate education courses at the New School and New York University.

Lyndon Estes, Ph.D., Trustee
After earning his B.A. from Georgetown University in 1993, Lyndon spent nearly 9 years in South Africa working in protected area management and environmental consulting. During that time, he received his M.Phil. in conservation biology from the University of Cape Town and became proficient in the siSwati language.  In 2008, Lyndon received a Ph.D. in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia for ecological research focusing on Kenya, where he had the chance to acquire a bit of Swahili. Lyndon is currently a research associate at Princeton University.

Joy Zhao, Trustee
Ms. Joy is passionate about dual language education and has extensive experience in designing content-based and inquiry-based curriculum for dual language Chinese immersion programs. She is also an experienced teacher of Chinese to students of different ages and language backgrounds. Ms. Zhao has also been an active volunteer at Tzu Chi Foundation, a charity organization, since 2004, where she serves as a teacher and youth-group leader. Ms. Zhao was born in China and graduated from Guangzhou Teacher's College with a B.A. in English. She has a master's degree in elementary education from the University of Bridgeport and a master’s degree in community counseling from Fairfield University.

Bonnie Liao, Ph D, Ex Officio, Head of School
Since 2002, Dr. Liao has been the founding Principal and Trustee of YingHua Language School, which was the first community-based school accredited by CSS at Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Since 2004, Dr. Liao has designed and directed the annual "YingHua in Beijing" – a Summer Language & Leadership Institute – that provides 4-week, in-depth learning opportunities to American youth ages 8 to 17. In May 2007, she founded YHIS. After working for a large financial firm as VP of Management Science for a decade, she taught math at a top private college preparatory high school in New Jersey. Born and raised in China, she received her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Houston and an M.B.A. in finance and information technology from Rutgers University.