On May 21, the University of Michigan (UM) – Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) Partnership Board held its 26th meeting during the UM delegation’s visit to the SJTU campus with a series of bilateral exchange activities. The meeting, attended by board members from both universities, was presided over by SJTU President Kuiling Ding.
During the meeting, board members approved five new memberships to the Academic Program Group (APG) of the UM-SJTU Joint Institute (JI hereafter), including three from UM and two from SJTU. A faculty appointment for Jaehyung Ju as associate professor with tenure was also approved.
The JI Dean Chien-Pin Chen updated the board members the recent developments and achievements of JI in a progress report featuring students and recruitment, international programs, graduate placement, faculty and staff, alumni, and financial status. He said JI has been actively promoting exchanges and mutual visits with top international universities, in addition to the existing dual-degree and Global Degree Pathway programs. The joint institute has joined hands with Trip.com Group, a leading global travel service provider, to launch a scholarship exchange program for the purpose of supporting students from American universities to study and exchange in China. The JI alumni have been well-recognized by the market. Over 60 alumni became faculty members of renowned domestic or overseas universities, while nearly 20 alumni who set up businesses of their own were put on influential lists by Forbes and Fortune.
UM President Santa Ono acknowledged the recent outstanding achievements of JI and expressed his gratitude to the leadership team for their significant contributions to the institute’s development. He said he is very proud to be associated with SJTU in building the joint institute. He looks forward to seeing JI making continuous breakthroughs in academic fields of global interest, creating more platforms for bilateral exchange and cooperation, and embracing a more glorious future.
In his closing remarks, Chairman of the SJTU Council Zhenbin Yang said the UM-SJTU Joint Institute, a significant achievement of the collaboration between SJTU and UM and a model of higher education cooperation between China and the United States, has achieved remarkable results over the past 18 years. Last year, the two universities signed the third ten-year cooperation agreement, laying a solid foundation for the future development of the joint institute. Yang expressed his expectation that the two universities would jointly build more bridges for people-to-people exchanges and academic collaboration between China and the United States, further promoting cooperation in higher education and making new contributions to the advancement and development of both institutions.
Group photo of leaders from the two universities at the SJTU Administration Building.
Group photo of leaders attending the unveiling ceremony of the UM-SJTU collaboration exhibition
During the visit of the UM delegation, leaders of the two universities, including UM Vice President Tom Baird, UM Vice Provost Valeria Bertacco and SJTU Executive Vice President Lifeng Xi, unveiled the “A Century of Friendship and Collaboration” Exhibition at the Long Bin Building, featuring the evolving ties between UM and SJTU and the representative experiences of exchange and cooperation in a history spanning more than three centuries.
The visit also included stops at the JI alumni exhibition, the Tang Junyuan Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, and the Yu Liming Student Center, as well as a meeting with students to gain a comprehensive understanding of the institute’s innovative talent cultivation system.
