A bridge between nations

After graduation, Dong was named assistant engineering manager at Henze-UFE Guangzhou, a joint venture between Henze U.S. and China Guangdong Provincial Food Group. In 1992, he joined EAC, a Danish company focused on import and export trading, as senior sales executive manager.

In 1994, Dong joined NDC Infrared Engineering as senior executive sales manager and founded NDC China—the company’s direct sales and customer support operation to China—where he established and led a team that would grow to become the top supplier in the market over the past 20 years.

Dong says it’s the education he received from the School of Management that has led him to global success.

“I took what I learned in class and applied those skills right into real business practices,” says Dong. “The professors there are among the best in the world—they taught me to think in a way that focuses on solutions and that’s very valuable.”

He also says he’s proud to be a UB graduate, in large part because the school’s Dalian program was the first U.S. MBA program offered in China.

“UB helped to establish the open-door policy and economic reforms that helped China begin to offer MBA education,” he says. 

As he looks to the future, Dong sees the realization of a 23-year dream coming to fruition.

“In 1992, I was accepted to the Harvard Kennedy School to pursue a master’s degree in public policy, but the timing just wasn’t right,” says Dong. “It’s the right time for me to go after that degree now—and I hope to use it to help bring about political reform in China and serve as a bridge to cooperation and friendship between China and the United States.”

Dong was honored as a 2012 China Economy Top 10 Business Leader and serves as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at the School of Management. He is currently writing a book chronicling his life’s experience titled “The Strength of Commitment: My 30 Years with China Economic Growth and Development 1983-2013.”

In his free time, Dong enjoys swimming, gardening and spending time with friends and family, including his two sons Richard, 13, and Eric, 11, who are both gifted musicians. Richard took second place in the 2013 American International Protégé Piano Competition and will play at the Winner’s Recital in Carnegie Hall; and Eric was the second place winner in the 2011 American International Protégé Piano and Strings Competition, and played Carnegie Hall in 2011.

Written by Kevin Manne