council and later received a Bachelor of Laws in 1982. After working for about six years, he returned to Peking University for graduate studies in 1988. He received a Master of Economics and a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from Peking University in 1995. His doctoral advisor was the prominent economist Li Yining (no relation). At the invitation of Li Yining, Li Keqiang's doctoral dissertation review committee was composed of well-known Chinese economists and researchers. Because of the high academic rigor of the committee, Li Keqiang postponed the defense of his dissertation by half a year. Commented as being able to "withstand any kind of inspection" by his doctoral advisor, Li Keqiang's doctoral dissertation, "On the ternary structure of Chinese economy," published in 1991, was awarded the Sun Yefang Prize, China's highest prize in economics, in 1996. In 1982, Li became the Communist Youth League secretary at Peking University. He entered the top leadership of the national organization of the Communist Youth League (CYL) in 1983 as a member of its secretariat, and has worked closely with former Party general secretary Hu Jintao, who also rose through the ranks of the CYL, ever since. Li became the organization's first secretary in 1993 and served until 1998. He is a representative member of the first generation to have risen from the CYL leadership. Rising through the ranks (1998–2012) Provincial tenures Li became the youngest Chinese provincial governor in June 1998 when he was appointed governor of Henan at the age of 43. According to provincial officials working with him at the time, Li refused to participate in any banquets or large fancy events not related to government activities. During his time as governor, a public sense of his "bad luck" grew due to the occurrence of three major fires in the province. Li is known to be outspoken and led economic development in Henan, transforming the poor inland region into an attractive area for investment. Li did not spend time pursuing superficial projects. He trekked through all regions of the province trying to search for a comprehensive solution to its growing problems. Henan jumped in national GDP rankings from 28th in the early 1990s to 18th in 2004, when Li left Henan. However, his government was relatively ineffective at curbing the HIV/AIDS epidemic that was affecting the rural areas of the province. Li was transferred to work as the Party secretary