Wen-Jing Xiao was born in Hubei Province, China, in 1965. He received his MSc in chemistry from Central China Normal University (CCNU) under the supervision of Professor Wen-Fang Huang (1990). In 2000, he received his PhD degree under the direction of Professor Howard Alper in University of Ottawa, Canada. Subsequently he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Prof. David W. C. MacMillan (2001–2002) in California Institute of Technology (US). In 2003, Dr Xiao became a full professor in the College of Chemistry at CCNU, China. His current research interests focus on the discovery of new methodology for carbo- and heterocyclic molecules.