On September 26 local time, President of Tsinghua University Qiu Yong headed a delegation to Stanford University to meet with President Marc Tessier-Lavigne who has just assumed the post this month, and deliberate over deepening future cooperation between the two institutions and signing a Memorandum of Cooperation.
During his visit, Qiu Yong held talks with former President of Stanford Professor John Hennessy and visited Cantor Arts Center, D School and other institutes of Stanford as well as a group of alumni studying at Stanford, accompanied by Yang Bin, Vice President and Provost of Tsinghua University.
President Qiu Yong and his delegation arrived at Stanford campus on a sunny afternoon and received a cordial welcome from President Tessier-Lavigne in the landmark central square. President Tessier-Lavigne said that it was the first day of the new quarter at Stanford and that he was very glad to meet with President Qiu Yong on this special day. Later, Qiu Yong expressed his gratitude to President Tessier-Lavigne for his warm reception and congratulated him on becoming the eleventh President of Stanford.
During the talks that followed, the two Presidents looked into the all-round cooperation between the two universities in terms of scientific research and talent training, and discussed future development and strategic cooperation between the two universities, including the co-building of a joint research center, developing academic exchanges, promoting talent training and other related matters. Qiu Yong invited Marc Tessier-Lavigne to visit Tsinghua University and this invitation was gratefully accepted. Director of Tsinghua University Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences Andrew Yao, Dean of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Ding Sheng, Dean of the International Cooperation and Exchange Office Li Jinliang, Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford John Ciffio, Chair of the Department of Electronics Abbas El Gamal participated in the talks, among others.
Later, President Qiu Yong joined a meeting specially organized by former President of Stanford John Hennessy. Qiu Yong said in the meeting that John Hennessy was an old friend of Tsinghua University and he thanked John Hennyssy for the unremitting efforts he had made in pushing forward the cooperation between the two universities. Qiu Yong introduced the global strategy of Tsinghua University, especially the progress of the international education programs, such as Schwarzman Scholars and Global Innovation Exchange. John Hennessy stated that Tsinghua University was an important partner of Stanford and that the cooperation between the two universities not only had a sound foundation but also had good prospects. He also introduced the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program co-founded and led by himself, and had exchanges with the delegation in terms of the composition of the academic advisory committee, student selection, and course design of the program.
Under the witness of Qiu Yong and John Hennessy, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed by Per Enge, Professor of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Department of Electronic Engineering at Stanford and member of National Academy of Sciences, and Lu Mingquan, Professor of the Department of Electronic and Director of the PNT Technology Research Center Engineering at Tsinghua University. The memorandum stated to aim at building a new platform for cooperation between the two universities in the field of Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) and jointly carrying out research and academic exchange and talent training in the field.
Qiu Yong and his delegation paid a field visit to D School at Stanford and discussed with Professor Bernard Roth, the co-founder of the school, and with teacher and student representatives, regarding an in-depth understanding of the initiation process, educational ideas and the organizational methods of the school. The delegation also visited the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford to examine its organizational structure and management, accompanied by a group of Tsinghua alumni. Later, Qiu Yong and his delegation convened with a group of alumnus representatives who are studying at Stanford, informed them about the latest news of Tsinghua, and had a general discussion and photo-session with them.
sources: Tsinghua University News
