Dr. Leng, born in Chengtu, China, came to the United states in 1945. He received a B.A. degree from the National Central University in 1943, a M.A. degree from Yale University in 1948, and a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1950. His thesis deals with United States-Japanese negotiations in 1941.

Dr. Leng joined the faculty of the University of Virginia in 1950 and retired in 1992 as D. Compton Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs Emeritus. He also taught at Doshisha (Japan) University and University of Pennsylvania and served as Adviser, Union Research Institute in Hong Kong (1961), Visiting Scholar, Harvard University (1962), Research Associate, Duke University Rule of Law Research Center (1964-66), Consultant, Research Analysis Corporation (1968-71), and Research Associate, Harvard Law School (1968-69).

Dr. Leng is an authority on Chinese affairs. He has published many books. Among them are Japan and Communist China, 1959 (with Norman D. Palmer); Sun Yat-sen and Communism, 1961 (with others), Sovereignty within the Law, 1965, Justice in Communist China, 1968, Criminal Justice System in Post-Mao China, 1955) , Law in Chinese Foreign Policy, 1972; Post-Mao China and U.S.-China Trade, 1977 (with Hungdah Chiu); China: 70 Years After the 1911 Revolution, 1984; Changes in China: Party, State, and Society, 1989; Coping with Crisis: How Governments Deal with Emergencies, 1990; Chiang Ching-Kuo's Leadership in the Development of the Republic of China on Taiwan, 1992, and Reform and Development in Deng's China, 1994. Dr. Leng also edited a number of journals, including Asian Forum, Asian Affairs, Asia Pacific Review, Journal of Chinese Studies, and World Affairs.

In addition to teaching, Dr. Leng was Research Council grantee (1956); research fellow, Social Science Research Council (1961-62 and 1968-69); Fulbright research scholar, Hong Kong and Taiwan (1977); visiting scholar, Wilson Center (1980); research fellow, Institute. for Study of World Politics (1984); chairman of the board, U.S.-Asia Research Institute (1983) He was elected president of the Association of Chinese Social Scientists in North America in 1989.