In 1987, Liang Chen came to the Fox School of Business on a scholarship from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics where he was an assistant professor. At Temple University, he studied in what is today known as the Department of Risk, Insurance, and Healthcare Management. He went on to earn his MBA from Fox in 1990, and shortly thereafter began his career in the international insurance industry.
As CEO of Allianz Life China since 2011, Mr. Chen has led a turnaround in the company’s fortunes, thanks in part to an entrepreneurial culture that “let every staff member develop a sense of ownership and change the way of doing things.” He explains, “When you talk less, but do more, be practical, collaborate, and focus on execution, you can make a big difference.” That is exactly what he had learned from his study at the Fox School. Mr. Chen came of age in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution in the early 1970s, when the nation’s universities were shut down. After long days working in a machinery factory, Mr. Chen spent his nights teaching himself math, history, and English. “I firmly believed that one day this would end and everything would be back to order,” he recalls thinking, “[so] when this happens, I’d better be prepared.” After university admissions resumed in 1978, Mr. Chen chose to study finance, in part because the field was not as crowded as physics or chemistry. “When most of the students chose science,” he says, “it left me with far more chances to develop in an unpopular field.” That decision eventually led him to Temple University and to various insurance posts in the United States and China, gaining his rich industry experience through working for several American multinational insurance companies, one of the largest Chinese insurance companies and a Chinese and German joint venture company over the past 30 years. He drew on this career history during his keynote speech at the graduate commencement ceremony for the Fox School in May 2017, where he advised new graduates to remain “open-minded and inclusive, because you can never plan precisely.” A detour, he said, might bring an “extra-beautiful experience.”
Temple University Degree
Master of Business Administration ’90, Fox School of Business
Current Title & Company
CEO and Executive Director, Allianz China Life Insurance Company Limited
Temple University Awards & Affiliatons
- Dean’s Council, Fox School of Business
- Keynote Speaker, Graduate Commencement, Fox School of Business, 2017