Haowei Wang Named Maxwell School Scholar in US-China/Asia Relations

July 10, 2025

Haowei Wang

Sociology Department

Aging Studies Institute

Aging

China

East Asia

Giving

Longevity

Promotions & Appointments

United States

The position was created with a gift by Syracuse University alumni Yang Ni and Xiaoqing Li to strengthen connections between Maxwell faculty and scholars in China and Asia.

Haowei Wang

Haowei Wang, assistant professor of sociology, has been named the Yang Ni and Xiaoqing Li Scholar in U.S.-China/Asia Relations for the 2025-26 academic year.

Wang’s one-year appointment begins July 1. She is the fifth Maxwell faculty member to be named a recipient of the Yang Ni and Xiaoqing Li Endowment Fund for U.S.-China/Asia Relations. Syracuse University alumni Ni L’95 and Li G’96 established the fund in 2021 to encourage greater connections between Maxwell faculty and scholars in China and Asia. The funding may be utilized for travel, research and teaching in China.

Wang’s research focuses on understanding the social determinants of healthy aging in a global context. In particular, she investigates the transformation of family networks, how multiple dimensions of family relationships impact well-being and caregiving in later life, and how demographic shifts and social policies shape physical and mental health across the life course.

“Professor Wang’s important scholarship enhances Maxwell’s strategic emphasis on research in health and aging. This title is well-deserved given her focus on aging and family systems in China.”

Carol Faulkner

senior associate dean for academic affairs

Carol Faulkner, senior associate dean for academic affairs, says Wang’s research sheds new light on family systems and aging in a global context. “Professor Wang’s important scholarship enhances Maxwell’s strategic emphasis on research in health and aging. This title is well-deserved given her focus on aging and family systems in China,” she says.

Wang was recently named a 2025-26 Association of Population Centers Fellow. In 2024, she presented her research, “The Experience of Child Bereavement Across the Life Course and Implications for Older Parents’ Psychological Well-being in China,” at the Population Association of America Annual Meeting.

At Maxwell, Wang is a research affiliate at the Center for Aging and Policy Studies, a faculty associate at the Aging Studies Institute and a research affiliate at the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health. Her areas of expertise are in social gerontology, family demography, aging and population health. She has contributed to many articles in interdisciplinary journals on topics including population aging, health disparities, family structure changes, intergenerational relationships, and COVID-19 experiences among middle-aged and older adults.

Ni and Li earned degrees from the Syracuse University College of Law and the School of Information Studies, respectively.

By Mikayla Melo