发信站: 水木社区 (Wed Dec 28 02:18:22 2005), 站内

To: All interested

From: Da Hsuan Feng, Vice President for Research and Economic Development, UTD and Honorary Board of Trustees Member, Nanjing University

Re: Merging of Nanjing University (NJU) and Southeast University (SEU)

I just learned from the former President of Nanjing University alumni association, Mr. Cheng-Ning Zhang, that the two most prominent universities in China in the city of Nanjing: Nanjing University and Southeast University, will initiate merger procedure, starting this coming April. The name of the amalgamated university will still be "Nanjing University". The process of the merger is spurred on by an investment of 3 Billion RMB ($400 Million US, although the buying power is closer to $3 Billion), 2 Billion RMB from Jiangsu's Provincial Government and 1 Billion RMB from the Ministry of Education of China.

The genesis of Nanjing University and Southeast University was the National Central University in the city of Nanking (now Nanjing). Prior to 1949, the National Central University is an intellectual powerhouse of China. After nearly 50 years of separation, these two universities will again be united. This merger is clearly the destiny of both great institutions.

One should underscore that even in today's extremely competitive higher education landscape, both are highly ranked universities in China, especially Nanjing University, which has consistently been ranked in the top 3 or 4 universities in China in the past decade.

With a combined students population of well over 60,000, all of whom are creme de la creme in China, and "armed" with many of the best intellectuals in China as faculty members, over 30 them received the highest academic accolades in China: Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the new Nanjing University in the 21st century, standing tall on the banks of the mighty Yangtze River, the cradle of Chinese civilization, is poised to take its place as one of the leading intellectual and economic engines not just in China, but the world.

I am also proud that the following faculty members of UTDallas are associated with Nanjing University:

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Professor Alan G. MacDiarmid, Nobel laureate in chemistry 2000 and James Von Ehr Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology (Nanjing University's Honorary Professor)
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Professor Ray Baughman, Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry and Director of NanoTech Institute (Honorary Professor)
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Mr. James Von Ehr, UTDallas' Chairman of the Development Board (Honorary Professor)
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Professor Da Hsuan Feng, Vice President for Research and Economic Development (Honorary Professor and Honorary member of the Board of Trustees)