The Hopkins-Nanjing Center's 30th Anniversary Celebration
Madeleine Albright, principal, Albright Stonebridge Group and former U.S. Secretary of State
Ronald J. Daniels, president of The Johns Hopkins University
Chen Deming, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and former Minister of Commerce for the People's Republic of China
Chen Jun, president of Nanjing University
Vali Nasr, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
June 17-19, 2016
"No one was better than Confucius at defining a win-win proposition," said former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright '63 at a convocation address marking the 30th anniversary of The Hopkins-Nanjing Center (HNC), "and that is precisely the kind of partnership that the United States and China should continue building."
The U.S.-China relationship has significantly changed over the three decades since the HNC first opened its doors in 1986 and became China’s first academic partnership with a western university. Today, the HNC continues to serve as a model of what the two nations can achieve through a shared commitment to free and open academic exploration. “Though the world may be different,” Johns Hopkins University President Ronald Daniels said, “the values on which the center was founded – academic rigor, scholarly freedom, and cultural exchange – remain as vital as ever.”
Special events hosted over the anniversary weekend included a tea ceremony and discussion by Secretary Albright, a forum on U.S.-China relations, a foreign policy toolkit presentation by Secretary Albright, a traditional folk music performance by Nanjing University musicians, a gala dinner, and commencement recognizing the 175 members of the HNC Class of 2016.
HNC alumnus and former Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming '88 cited recent positive developments between the two nations, including the Joint Statement on Climate Change announced by President Xi Jinping and President Obama prior to the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, and the upcoming inclusion of China's currency in the special drawing rights of the International Monetary Fund. Chen credited his experiences at the HNC with broadening his horizons and deepening his understanding of market economics.
Looking back at the role of academic and cultural exploration in strengthening the U.S.-China ties, Secretary Albright said that "What the Hopkins-Nanjing Center has achieved affirms my belief that the most important institutions are those that contribute to international education," Albright continued, "few institutions have been, and will be, as important as the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.”
See event photos on flickr. Photos courtesy of Carl McLarty.
For alumni anniversary greetings and more information about The Hopkins-Nanjing Center, watch HNC Life Begins At 30 or visit the HNC web page.