Gang Chen was born in Leshan, Sichuan, China, in 1973. He received the B.S. degree in applied physics, the M.S. degree in theoretical physics, and the Ph.D. degree in engineering from Chongqing University, Chongqing, China, in 1996, 1999, and 2002, respectively. He received another Ph.D. degree in physics from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, in January 2010.

He worked as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Microsystem Research Center, Chongqing University, from August 2002 to August 2004. From August 2005 to December 2009, he was a Research Assistant in the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he carried out both experimental and theoretical research on the high-speed all-optical modulation of quantum wells, quantum dots, and quantum cascade lasers. From January 2010 to March 2010, he worked as a Research Assistant Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. Since April 2010, he has been a Professor in the School of Optoelectronic Engineering at Chongqing University. His current research interests include optical metasurface, diffractive optics, superresolution devices and systems. He is a senior member of Chinese society of micro-nano technology.