1940
Ms. Zhao is born in Shanghai, China to Binghua and Xichun Lou Zhao.
1963
Ms. Zhao receives a Bachelor of Arts from Beijing Foreign Studies University.
1972
Ms. Zhao serves as a United States desk officer in the Department of American and Oceanic Affairs of the Foreign Ministry of the People’s Republic of China.
1972
Ms. Zhao spends seven years participating in the work that leads to the normalization of U.S.-China relations on January 1, 1979.
1975
Ms. Zhao serves as an interpreter for former President Richard Nixon during his post-Watergate visits to China. She also serves in this role in 1976 and 1979.
1980
Ms. Zhao attends Harvard Law School and receives a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Harvard University three years later, becoming the first person from the People’s Republic of China to receive a J.D. from a U.S. law school.
1984
Ms. Zhao returns to China and serves as First Secretary in both the Department of Treaty and Law and the Department of American and Oceanic Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
1985
Ms. Zhao is admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois and the District of Columbia, becoming the first person from the People’s Republic of China to be licensed in the U.S.
1988
Ms. Zhao leaves the Chinese Foreign Ministry and settles in the U.S., joining Baker & McKenzie LLP in Chicago, Illinois as an associate.
1994
Ms. Zhao is promoted to partner at Baker & McKenzie LLP. She and her team start one of the first China practices in the U.S. to develop investment and trade between China and the U.S.
2012
Ms. Zhao retires as principal and serves as Senior Counsel at Baker & McKenzie LLP until June 2019.
2018
Ms. Zhao is honored with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who.