Like many of our students, faculty, and staff, I spent the two weeks of Yale’s spring recess on the road. In Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, and the coastal Chinese town of Boao, I visited with alumni and friends of the university, celebrated new or renewed collaborations with Peking University and the China Scholarship Council, and attended and took part in stimulating discussion sessions on scientific advances by Yale faculty, innovation in university education, and rethinking teaching and learning in the East and West.
Throughout Asia, I was met with warm hospitality and tremendous generosity. Some of our wonderful alumni in the region—the Ng family in Hong Kong and Singapore, Lei Zhang in Hong Kong, Neil Shen in Beijing, and the excellent leadership of the Yale Clubs of Hong Kong and Singapore—did so much to ensure that my travels were productive.
I also am deeply grateful to the Yale faculty members who gave generously of their time during the recess, contributing their perspectives in meetings at Yale-NUS College and with our Yale Asia Development Council. The chair of the Yale-NUS Advisory Committee, Marvin Chun, and two representatives of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Senate, Shiri Goren and Charles Schmuttenmaer, joined me for a visit with the Yale-NUS Governing Board. And Anna Pyle, Paul Turner, and Yong Xiong led a stimulating and inspiring session with the Asia Development Council, presenting on the cutting-edge research that each of them is spearheading at Yale.
You can see a short slide show of photos from this recent trip at http://president.yale.edu/trip-asia-spring-2016.
