After completing his B.A.,
M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Chinese and Japanese languages and literatures,
Dr. Walls began his academic career teaching Chinese language and East
Asian cultures at the University of British Columbia (1970-78) and the
University of Victoria (1978-85). In addition to teaching, he founded and
directed the Centre for Pacific and Oriental Studies at Victoria. From
1981 to 1983 he served as First Secretary for Cultural and Scientific
Affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, and from 1985 to 1987 he was
Senior Vice President of the newly established Asia Pacific Foundation of
Canada, where he founded and developed the first Education and Cultural
Affairs programs.
In September, 1987, he joined
Simon Fraser University, where he founded and directed the David Lam
Centre for International Communication until his retirement. He was also
Founding Director of SFU's Asia-Canada Program, an interdisciplinary minor
or intensive minor program for undergraduate students. He retired from
university in 2006, after 36 years of teaching Chinese language and East
Asian cultures.
He was a founding member of
the Board of Directors of the David Lam Institute for East-West Studies at
Hong Kong Baptist University, and has been a director of the Dr. Sun Yat
Sen Classical Chinese Garden Society, S.U.C.C.E.S.S., and the Tzu Chi
Education Foundation. He serves on the Government of British Columbia’s
Multicultural Advisory Council, and on the Chinese Community Advisory
Group for the Lower Mainland B.C. Canadian Red Cross Society, and is
currently a director of the Canadian Society for Asian Arts and the
Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia.
