Joan Kaufman’s varied and accomplished career in China is a prism through which we can view the arc of China’s transformation from “reform and opening up” to today. After two degrees in Chinese Studies, a masters in health and medical sciences and a thesis (and book) on China's Population Policy, Joan moved to China in 1980 to work for the newly opened UN office, for the first of 4 extended work stints in China totaling over 15 years to date, including 5 years as a grant maker for the Ford Foundation's China Office. She has taught, consulted, and published on China and global health, reproductive health, population, HIV/AIDS, women's rights, and NGOs over her career. Joan will reflect on her early China days, her funniest China stories of the last 40 years, and the depressing state of US China relations. She continues to travel often to China in her current job as the Senior Director for Academics for Schwarzman Scholars and will also talk about the program and her hopes for the future.