On the morning of May 14, 2024, at the invitation of the School of Management, Professor Stephen Zhang from the University of Adelaide, Australia, delivered an academic lecture titled "Entrepreneurs’ mental distress and their businesses’ CSR under the COVID-19 crisis" for our faculty and students. This lecture was the ninth installment of the School of Management's 2024 Overseas Lecture Series, chaired by Associate Professor Deng Wei, with the participation of some faculty and students from the School of Management.

At the beginning of the meeting, Deng Wei provided a brief introduction to Stephen Zhang's personal background and academic achievements, and the attending faculty and students extended a warm welcome to his arrival. In this lecture, Stephen Zhang linked mental health, gender, and CSR, discussing the relationship between entrepreneurs' mental distress during the pandemic and their businesses' CSR after the pandemic, and analyzed how this relationship varies based on the entrepreneurs' gender.

During the interactive session, Stephen Zhang engaged in extensive and enthusiastic exchanges with the faculty and students, answering their questions. The lecture was informative and provided many academic research insights for the faculty and students, from which everyone benefited greatly.

Introduction to the Speaker:

Stephen Zhang is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Adelaide. He was selected as one of the top 2% of scientists worldwide by Stanford University in 2023. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Business Research and is on the editorial board of journals such as the Journal of Business Venturing, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and Journal of Business Venturing Insight. His main research focuses on the behavior of entrepreneurs and top management teams under uncertainty. He has published articles in top-tier journals in the fields of management (such as the Academy of Management Journal) and entrepreneurship (such as Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice), and has published a series of high-impact articles on COVID-19 research. His research has been covered by mainstream media outlets such as Yahoo, MSN, HuffPost, The Age, and The Sydney Morning Herald. He has previously worked at the University of Sydney, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and the National University of Singapore. Before embarking on an academic career, he worked as an entrepreneur in various fields including engineering, management consulting, market research, and innovation management, accumulating a wealth of practical experience.

(Written by / Zhou Wenxin, Deng Wei Reviewed by / Shao Jing, Zhang Shuang)