Jianzhuo Tu was born in Guilin, P.R. China in 1994. He obtained his BS (2016) degree in Applied Chemistry from Beijing University of Chemical Technology. Jianzhuo became more interested in organic chemistry as an undergraduate student, and he learnt some basic experimental skills working as a research assistant at the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering in China. Jianzhuo conducted research on the synthesis of disulfides and the formation of alkanethioates by xanthate extrusion reactions. Jianzhuo first came to OSU as an INTO Chemistry Pathways student and then transferred to become an MS student. While in the BRG, Jianzhuo investigated alkaloid synthesis. He went on to become a PhD track study in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Missouri.