On March 28, the Development Advisory Board (DAB) of the UM-SJTU Joint Institute (JI) held the first meeting at SJTU, attended by honorable board members, Dean Peisen Huang, Honorary Dean Jun Ni, JI Party Secretary Xinwan Li, and staff. Dean Huang officiated the meeting.
In his opening remark, Dean Huang reflected on JI’s development over the past nine years and presented his idea about JI’s strategic development planning and the prospect of building a Joint Institute Alliance. Feeling JI’s pulse of development, board members gave sage advice on topics such as ways to build a world-class institute, effective supports for JI Alliance, funding JI scholarships, and attracting outstanding professors. Together they explored new opportunities to promote JI’s innovative international educational model and a full range of scientific management. The DAB has a profound impact on JI’s future development as board members from various industry backgrounds provide analyses from different perspectives. To promote fundraising for JI’s long-term development, Board Chair Richard Rogel suggested that JI follow the UM model and improve the fund management system. Based on their international and domestic knowhow on charity giving, other board members also contributed their ideas about expanding fundraising channels and smart ways to utilizing the funds.
The DAB gathers friends of the community, including industry leaders, philanthropists, and distinguished alumni, to exchange and explore about JI’s future development. With the theme, DAB strives to realize new starting points, new thinking, and new goals for JI’s next phase of strategic development planning through a diversified development model of industrial guidance, continuous participation, and multi-channel supports to achieve resource gathering and sharing for the great Joint Institute Alliance.
After the meeting, board members shared their experience and knowledge with faculty, students, and alumni representatives. The exchange was warm and friendly. JI students were grateful for the opportunities to have close encounters with industrial elites, JI leaders, professors, and successful alumni whose enthusiastic helpfulness has benefited them enormously.
The DAB has decided to hold annual meeting at the first quarter of the year to provide advice on JI’s development for the new year. Board members serve for two years. In addition to the annual board meeting, they will also be invited to participate in other important activities to helped JI explore new opportunities for collaboration and development. JI’s Development Advisory Board is an effective and innovative attempt based on advanced concepts and experiences of American Universities. It is JI’s “think tank” to support JI’s long-term development. It will also serve as bridge to strengthen JI’s contacts with various enterprises, institutions, and major alumni associations.
JI DAB group photo (partial)
(from left：John Cheng, Yudong Chen, Michael Gong, Peter Hua, Richard Rogel, Jun Ni, Liming Yu, Peisen Huang, Larry Li)
