The foundation was founded by the Zhejiang University alumni in North America in October 1995.^[1] Its designation is to promote the cooperation and between Zhejiang University and American universities. The first president of the foundation was Kwang-Chu Chao.^{[citation needed]}

The foundation is named after the ZJU's former president ZHU Kezhen (aka Coching CHU, Zhu Kezhen is Pinyin spelling).^{[citation needed]}