For the fifth straight year, the university will send a delegation to Asia to strengthen close relationships in that part of the world.
A U-M contingent headed by Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Teresa Sullivan, Dean Robert Dolan of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, Dean David Munson of the College of Engineering, and Dean Monica Ponce de Leon of the Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning will travel to Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore during the last two weeks of May.
The delegation will meet with U-M alumni, as well as academic, business and government officials.
“This trip will help us build on a long history of strong connections between Asia and the University of Michigan,” says Steve Grafton, president and chief executive officer of the U-M Alumni Association. “The 700 to 800 alumni we will meet with are already leaders in Asia and many are in positions to help grow the university’s influence in that part of the world.”
Ross School professor Linda Lim, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, says with more than 10,000 U-M alumni in Asia and a relationship that dates to the late 1800s, the university has long been and will continue to be considered a premier institution in the field of Asian studies.
“The University of Michigan — with the breadth and depth of our disciplinary and professional excellence, special expertise on Asia, and experience with multidisciplinary research and education — is well-positioned to engage with our Asian peers in projects of mutual benefit to our faculty, our students and our home societies.”
The itinerary kicks off in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Dolan will deliver a keynote address to alumni on “The Michigan Model of Management Education: Leaders and Best on a Global Stage” at the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
On Thursday in Singapore, Dolan will address a gathering of Asia-Pacific business school leaders at the National University of Singapore (NUS). That evening he will be joined by Sullivan and Lim, for a panel discussion on “The Global Financial Crisis, U.S. Higher Education and Business, and Singapore” at an alumni event.
While at NUS, the U-M delegation and NUS will implement an undergraduate student-exchange program and discuss possible institutional collaborations, particularly in the fields of health and aging, environmental sustainability and social research, Lim says.
China expert Kenneth Lieberthal, the William Davidson Professor of Business Administration and the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Political Science, will give a keynote talk Sunday on “U.S.-China Relations in the Obama Administration: Continuities and Changes” at the Shanghai Art Museum. Additional speakers include Sullivan, Munson, Grafton and Mary Gallagher, associate professor of political science and director of the Center for Chinese Studies.
On May 26, Lieberthal will give the same address at the Marriott Hotel in Beijing and will again be joined by Sullivan, Munson, Gallagher and Grafton.
Other members of the U-M delegation include:
• Richard Rogel and Latricia Turner, members of the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Internationalization.
• Jefferson Porter, associate vice president in the Office of University Development.
• Michael Andreasen, executive director of development and alumni relations at the Ross School of Business.
• Jack Hu, professor and associate dean for research and graduate education at the College of Engineering.
• Jun Ni, professor of mechanical engineering and manufacturing science.
• Donald Scavia, director of the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute.
• Jen Zhu, China initiatives coordinator in the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs.
• Jo Rumsey, vice president for university relations at the Alumni Association.
• John Copeland, director of strategic planning and special projects in development and alumni relations at the Ross School.
• Lin Cargo, associate executive director of college relations at the College of Engineering.
