Hu Dunfu and left Beijing for Shanghai. Hu was hired by Ma Xiangbo as dean of Fudan University, but soon left the school after a student strike. In March 1912, Hu and his colleagues of Lida Society founded Utopia School in Nanshi, Shanghai, with Hu as its first president. Under his leadership, Utopia was certified as a university in 1922, and developed into one of the two most reputable private universities in China, the other being Nankai University in Tianjin. After Hu's friend Li Zhaohuan became the president of National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), he invited Hu to help build NCTU's mathematics
Hu Jintao the local students protest parallel to the Democracy Wall carefully, whereas in Beijing similar protests resulted in Hu Yaobang's forced resignation. Hu Yaobang was purged in the late 1980s due to his 'liberal' tendencies towards systemic reform, and his departure from the political scene was initially seen as unfavourable towards Hu Jintao. Hu Jintao drew criticism from party elders for failing to criticize the ousted reformer. In 1988, Hu was transferred to become Party Regional Committee Secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, while also taking on the role of Political Commissar of the local People's Liberation Army units. This made