Two PKU delegations visit UCLA

President Wang, administrators further collaboration and understanding

International Institute, April 2, 2014 — UCLA enjoyed two visits from Peking University (PKU) administrators and leadership in winter quarter that deepened the collaboration between our two institutions. In January, the PKU-UCLA Joint Research Institute in Science and Engineering (JRI) and the UCLA International Institute hosted a PKU delegation who wanted to understand how the UCLA campus operates. In March, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block met with PKU President Enge Wang to renew the JRI student exchange agreement. 

The January delegation spent a week on the UCLA campus meeting with various offices to discuss administrative management and program development. The PKU delegation included representatives of various campus departments and levels of leadership, such as the Director of PKU Graduate School Office of Academic Affairs, faculty from the Computer Center and Office of Scientific Research, and librarians from Peking University Library.

The International Visitors Bureau at the UCLA International Institute coordinated their complex itineraries according individual interests. Among others, the delegates met with Robin Garrell, vice provost and dean of the UCLA Graduate Division; Jan-Christopher Horak, director of the UCLA Film and TV Archive; Virginia Steel and Susan Parker, librarians at the Charles E. Young Research Library; Carole Goldberg, vice chancellor of UCLA Academic Personnel; and Frank Wada, university registrar.   

“I think it was a good opportunity to deepen the understanding and collaboration between the two campuses,” commented Prof. Jason Cong, JRI co-director. JRI hosted a welcome dinner for the delegation, where they could exchange observations with UCLA JRI members. After two days of meetings, the PKU delegates said that they found the level of career specialization at UCLA surprising, noting that administrators at PKU have broader responsibilities and may wear many hats. The party made a similar trip to UC Berkley before returning to Beijing.

The individual delegates and their PKU affiliations are listed in the table below.

UCLA welcomed PKU President Enge Wang on March 2 and 3 to sign a new student exchange agreement and continue discussions of reciprocity between the two universities. Both institutions seek to facilitate a greater number of UCLA exchange students at PKU, and greatly value the interest of PKU students in studying and conducting research at UCLA. President Wang met with Chancellor Block; Kathryn Atchison, vice provost for new collaborative initiatives; and Cindy Fan, vice provost of international studies (interim).

UCLA looks forward to hosting the annual JRI mini-symposium on May 15, which will be open to campus.

* From left to right: Cindy Fan, vice provost for international studies (interim); Matthew Kahn, professor of geography, and professor, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; Yunxiang Yan, professor of anthropology and director, Center for Chinese Studies; Jason Cong, professor of computer science; co-director of PKU-UCLA JRI, and associate vice provost for international studies; David Schaberg, dean of humanities and professor of Asian languages and cultures; Victoria Sork, dean, Life Sciences; Vijay Dhir, dean, UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science; Ren Sun, professor and senior associate dean of graduate studies, Geffen School of Medicine; Chris Erickson, professor, associate vice provost for international studies, and director, UCLA International Institute; Anthony Howell, Ph.D. candidate, department of geography; and Kathryn Atchison, vice provost for new collaborative initiatives.

For more info please contact:
Larissa Harrison
lharrison@international.ucla.edu

Published: Wednesday, April 2, 2014