Mung Chiang, a former top scorer in Hong Kong's public examinations, will become the 18th president of Northwestern University. He is the first Asian American to lead the institution in its 175-year history.

A former top scorer in Hong Kong’s public examinations has been named the 18th president of Northwestern University, becoming the first Asian American to lead the prestigious institution in 175 years. Mung Chiang, who moved to Hong Kong from Tianjin at the age of 11 and attended Queen’s College before pursuing higher education at Stanford University in the United States, will take the helm from Michael Schill at the Illinois-based university on July 1. He achieved top scores in the Hong Kong...