Dr. David Jiang worked as a professional actor and director in theatre and television drama in China from the late 1960s to 1989. During the 1980s, he also taught at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. From 1989 to 1992, he was awarded a grant from the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) to observe theatre practice and education at Yale University and New York University in the United States.
 

He received his PhD in 1997 from the University of Leeds, England, where he also served as a founding research fellow. He subsequently taught at the National Taipei University of the Arts in Taiwan and later at Barnard College, Columbia University, in New York. In 2001, he was appointed Dean of the School of Drama at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, a position he held for eight years until his retirement in 2009.

Other positions he has held include Visiting Professor at both the Shanghai Theatre Academy and the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, Honorary Professor at the University of Hong Kong, and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, UK.
 

Dr. Jiang has directed numerous productions in the United States, the United Kingdom, mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, including classical masterpieces, contemporary and experimental works, musicals, and Chinese opera.