Katherine Palmer Kaup, the James B. Duke Professor of Asian Studies and Politics and International Affairs at Furman University, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR).

Founded in 1966 and headquartered in New York City, NCUSCR “promotes understanding and cooperation between the United States and Greater China in the belief that sound and productive Sino-American relations serve vital American and world interests.”

Members of the Board of Directors include former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and four former U.S. Ambassadors to the People’s Republic of China.

Kaup joined the Furman faculty in 1997 and teaches world politics, Chinese politics, and Asian politics in addition to a wide variety of seminars. Her research focuses on ethnic minorities and rule of law developments in China, as well as human rights concerns.

Kaup is author of “Creating the Zhuang: Ethnic Politics in China,” editor and contributor to the textbook “Understanding Contemporary Asia,” and author of numerous articles and book chapters on China’s ethnic minorities. She has served as special adviser for Minority Nationalities Affairs at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and was a NCUSCR public intellectuals fellow (2008-2011). She has been principal investigator for grants awarded by the Department of State, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Henry Luce Foundation.

Kaup regularly leads groups to China, including Congressional staff delegations, alumni tours, and student groups. She also served as an expert witness for a Congressional Staff Roundtable on human rights in Xinjiang.

Kaup has been chair of the Asian Studies Department and the Furman faculty, and she serves on the Steering Committee for the World Affairs Council Upstate. A graduate of Princeton University, she holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.