Mark Metcalf joined the McIntire School in 2020 as a Lecturer in Global Commerce. He teaches Doing Business in China, an undergraduate seminar that investigates the roots of Chinese business practices and norms, which is based on perspectives informed by philosophy, anthropology, sociology, history, and contemporary politics. During his six years before McIntire, he taught courses on traditional Chinese literature, including a semesterlong seminar on Sunzi’s Art of War, in UVA’s College of Arts & Sciences. Prior to UVA, Professor Metcalf spent over 25 years as a contractor working as a Signals Analyst, Systems Engineer, Project Manager (PMP®), Translator (Russian and Chinese), and Intelligence Analyst in support of the Department of Defense and other U.S. government agencies. This career was preceded by service in the U.S. Navy, initially as a Surface Warfare Officer and ultimately as a Cryptologist, where he retired at the rank of Commander.

In addition to cross-cultural business matters, Professor Metcalf’s research interests include contemporary views of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) regarding strategy, military ethics, political warfare, and the role of Xi Jinping thought on the military culture. He enjoys translating and analyzing military and political texts to better appreciate the PLA’s approaches to decision-making. He is particularly interested in identifying and understanding PLA actions resulting from distinctive Chinese cultural & political practices that can be prone to misunderstanding in the West. 

The results of Professor Metcalf’s research have been published in academic and professional journals and as book chapters. He has also given presentations on his research at the U.S. Naval War College, the U.S. Naval Academy, The Judge Advocate General Legal Center and School (TJAGLCS) at UVA, the Institute of World Politics, Florida State University, Academia Sinica, and the University of Edinburgh. From 2017 to 2019, he participated in the annual Regional Security Working Group at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing. In 2023, he was a guest on the "Hindsight" podcast, produced by the Army Foundry Platform, to discuss how the PLA reads and understands the Sunzi.