President Qiu Visits US Universities
From May 5th to 7th, Tsinghua University President Qiu Yong led a delegation to visit several distinguished universities on the US East Coast, with the aim of pushing forward the University’s strategic initiative of internationalization. His tour included Harvard University, Boston University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, all of them already cooperating with Tsinghua University. President Qiu held talks with other university presidents, and also with professors and researchers. During his stay, he also visited several laboratories and signed a number of agreements. Tsinghua Vice President Yang Bin, who accompanied President Qiu on his American tour, was invited to attend the “Harvard-China Youth Summit”, where he delivered a speech.
On May 6th, President Qiu visited Harvard University, where he was warmly welcomed by Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust. Professor Faust recalled her happy visits to Tsinghua in recent years, and gave a brief introduction to recent developments in education and research at Harvard. President Qiu said that he was happy to see Professor Faust again after their meeting at the Global University Leaders Forum in Davos in January, and with ever-increasing exchanges between the two universities, their material collaboration has yielded substantial results. President Qiu introduced Tsinghua University’s 105th anniversary in April, and its comprehensive reform and recent developments. The two presidents also exchanged views on education theory, development modes and future cooperation. The Deputy Provost of Harvard University Margaret Newell, and its Vice Provost Mark Elliott, attended the meeting.
The signing ceremony of a cooperation agreement between the School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, and Harvard Medical School, together with its attached hospital, was held during President Qiu’s visit.
At Boston University, President Qiu had a meeting with Boston University President Robert A. Brown. They held in-depth talks about future cooperation between two Universities. The two Presidents signed a memorandum and a dual degree program agreement in systematic engineering. Provost of Boston University Jean Morrison, Vice President of Boston University Willis Wang, and Chair of the Engineering Institute of Boston University Kenneth Lutchen attended the signing ceremony.
On May 6th, President Qiu visited the Media Lab at MIT, and had a talk with the responsible officials in charge of the LIGO Lab, with the aim of strengthening Tsinghua-MIT cooperation in this field. Cao Junwei, Vice Dean of the School of Information Science and Technology, also attended the meeting.
On the evening of May 6th, President Qiu and his entourage drove down to Worcester and paid a visit to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he was warmly welcomed by President Laurie Leshin. In their talk, both presidents expressed the wish that the deep historical roots between Tsinghua University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute should serve as the cornerstone of full-scale cooperation both now and in the future. Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Provost Bruce Bursten, Incoming Chairman of the Board of Trudtees Jack Mollen, and Dean of Engineering Institute David Cyganski attended the meeting.
President Qiu also talked with some Tsinghua alumni during his visit.
(by Li Huashan)
