The Hopkins-Nanjing Center celebrates 30 years of educating leaders in Sino-global relations
MEDIA ADVISORY
WASHINGTON — Celebrating 30 years of educating leaders in Sino-global relations, students, alumni, faculty, staff, leaders and supporters attended the Oct. 10 Founders Reception of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies (HNC).
The reception was part of a yearlong celebration to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the partnership between Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University, marking the longest-running academic joint venture in modern China between an American and Chinese university.
The event, held at the Washington, D.C. campus of Johns Hopkins SAIS, included remarks from Johns Hopkins University Provost Sunil Kumar, Nanjing University Chancellor Zhang Yibin, and Vali Nasr, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
“The unique bilingual and multicultural learning environment at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center has stood the test of time for 30 years and gives its students a well-recognized competitive advantage in the professional world,” Nasr said. “Over the years, the center has become a very important part of the Johns Hopkins SAIS family. And as the critical importance of Asia in the study and application of international affairs has grown, so too has the significance of the center.”
Leaders who were instrumental in the founding of the HNC reflected on the inception of the partnership including Jill McGovern, member of the Hopkins-Nanjing Council and SAIS Advisory Board; David M. Lampton, director of China Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS; and George Packard, former dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS.
Special guests included Nanjing University Chancellor Zhang Yibin, Senior Vice-Chancellor Yang Zhong, and many former Chinese and American co-directors of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center:
Chinese Co-Directors
Wang Zhigang (1986-1994)
Chen Yongxiang (1994-2003)
Huang Chengfeng (2003-2013)
He Chengzhou (2013-present)
American Co-Directors
Leon Slawecki (1986-1988)
Richard Gaulton (1988-1990)
Anthony Kane Center (1991-1993)
William Rope(1995-1996)
Robert Daly (2001-2007)
Carla Freeman (2010-2011)
Cornelius Kubler (2014-2016)
Following the reception, the Nanjing University delegation traveled to New York to present former U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger with a certificate of honorary professorship at Nanjing University. Kissinger, a longtime advocate of international relations and public service, fondly remembered his visit to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in 2007, when he delivered the keynote address at the HNC’s 20th anniversary. He is also the namesake of the newly launched Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
The HNC kicked off its 30th anniversary celebration in June with a weekend of events in Nanjing, China, including the 2016 commencement, a gala dinner, panel discussions on U.S.-China relations, and keynote addresses by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright '63, and Chen Deming '88, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and former Minister of Commerce for the People's Republic of China.
The HNC anniversary celebration will continue with the center’s first-ever HNC Giving Week in December to promote alumni participation in giving.
Media Contact
Stacy A. Anderson
Communications Manager
Johns Hopkins SAIS
202.663.5620 office
202.853.7983 mobile
[email protected]
About the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies
Established in 1986, the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, located in Nanjing, China, is a graduate educational partnership between The Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University, providing approximately 200 students from the United States, China, and other countries the unique opportunity to live and study international relations together. American and international students take the majority of their classes in Mandarin, while Chinese students study mostly in English. In addition, the HNC has the first and among the only uncensored libraries in China, featuring more than 120,000 volumes in English and Chinese, 400 periodicals and the electronic assets of both The Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University. The HNC and its graduates have been at the forefront of efforts to build constructive relations between the U.S. and China for 30 years.
For more information, visit the Hopkins-Nanjing Center or @hopkinsnanjing
About Johns Hopkins SAIS
A division of Johns Hopkins University, the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a global institution that offers students an international perspective on today’s critical issues. For more than 70 years, Johns Hopkins SAIS has produced great leaders, thinkers, and practitioners of international relations. Public leaders and private sector executives alike seek the counsel of the faculty, whose ideas and research inform and shape policy. Johns Hopkins SAIS offers a global perspective across three campus locations: Bologna, Italy; Nanjing, China; and Washington, D.C. The school’s interdisciplinary curriculum is strongly rooted in the study of international economics, international relations, and regional studies, preparing students to address multifaceted challenges in the world today.
For more information, visit sais-jhu.edu or @SAISHopkins
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