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Chief executive officers (C.E.O.s) play a dominant role in firm decision- makings and operations, and their characteristics will affect firm sustainable growth. This study investigates whether C.E.O. academic experience affects firm sustainable growth. Using a sample from China, we find that C.E.O. academic experience is positively related to firm sustainable growth, and the effect is pronounced for high-tech firms. Further analyses demonstrate that the results are robust to alternative measures and controlling for endogeneity problems. Finally, the channel analysis shows that the effect is partially driven by firm innovation and internal control.