Mingshan Zhao received the Bachelor of Science in Physics at Qufu Normal University in 1982 and Master of Science degree in Condensed Matter Physics at Beijing Normal University in 1986. In 2003 he obtained the Ph.D. degree in Photonics at the faculty of Engineering Sciences from Ghent University. In 1994, he was appointed as a full professor at Qufu Normal University. Since 2004, he has been a full professor in Photonics at Dalian University of Technology where he founded the Photonics Research Center. From 2007 to 2009, he was Head of Scientific Research Department at Dalian University of Technology. He was the Dean of School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, from 2009 to 2017.

Mingshan Zhao has mainly worked in the field of microwave photonics and integrated photonics. He has made contributions to research on RF(microwave)-over-fiber, microwave photonic signal processing, as well as photonic integrated devices. He has been the promotor of 12 PhD students and co-author of 120 international journal papers as well as of more than 50 papers published in conference proceedings. As part of a team of 5 professors or associate professors and 30 graduated students, Mingshan Zhao leads the Photonics Research Center. He has been involved in numerous (inter)national research programs.