Shao Yong is a professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University, vice-chairman of the Scientific Committee on Vernacular Architecture of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), expert member of the Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage, deputy secretary- general of the Academic Committee on Planning of Famous Historical and Cultural Cities of the China Society of Urban Planning, member of the Board of Directors of the Academic Committee on Urban and Rural Built Heritage of the Architectural Society of China, and member of the editorial board of Architectural Heritage and Built Heritage. Shao Yong has long been engaged in the research, teaching and practice of world cultural heritage, protection and development of historical and cultural cities, towns and villages, and urban renewal, and has won more than 30 national and provincial awards for scientific and technological progress, planning, design and teaching. Among them, the conservation of "Ancient Towns and Water Towns in Jiangnan" won the UNESCO Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cultural Heritage Conservation in the Asia-Pacific Region in 2003, and the conservation of "Lijiang Ancient City Based on Community Development" and "Pingyao Traditional Houses and Courts" won the UNESCO Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2007 and 2007 respectively. The conservation of Lijiang Ancient City based on Community Development" and "Pingyao Traditional Residential Compounds" won the Award of Excellence in 2007 and 2015 respectively.

She is the author of "The protection and Valorization of the Architectural, Urban and Landscape Heritage", "The Rural Future", "World Heritage in China-Historical City" and so on. She was awarded the "Knight of Arts and Letters" by the French Ministry of Culture in 2021.