Just after Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to travel to China along with David Cockrum, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, and Jifu Wang, associate dean of the School of Business Administration, on behalf of the university. It was my first visit to both China and Asia, and it was a wonderful experience. We were there to visit with Chairman Bingxin Wu, founder of Sanzhu Hi-tech Enterprise, the Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology and the Shandong Jinluban Group. I found the country to be beautiful and the people to be warm and hospitable. It was a great week for me and for the university.
Chairman Wu is an old friend of UHV and received an honorary degree from the university in 2016. He owns and operates a successful set of companies that produce health products and cosmetics, all of which are completely natural. He also is a well-known economist, known for his theory of Consumption Economics. In addition to signing a Memorandum of Understanding for our institutions to continue to engage in an international exchange program where our students have an opportunity to study at his institute, Chairman Wu is committed to helping support the cost of attendance for our students and support for our School of Business Administration faculty.
Next came a visit to Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology. The institute is interested in establishing a program for the exchange of students between the two institutions, as well as for UHV to recruit students from their ranks to come here to finish their degree programs. SICT also has a strong interest in the possibility of our faculty teaching on its campus for short terms. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed to explore the opportunities.
And finally, we met with the officers of the Shandong Jinluban Group. This group is a multibillion-dollar corporation that has experienced steady growth during recent years and has a strong interest in working with us to recruit Chinese students to study at UHV. Interestingly, one of the principal vice presidents, James Ma, is an alumnus and is both excited and enthusiastic about our prospects of creating a pipeline of Chinese students from that province of his country. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed, and I look forward to working with the Jinluban group in the coming year.
I am convinced since arriving at UHV that there are many opportunities for us to expand this institution. I am even more convinced now that I see the opportunities that exist for us to grow in ways that I had not anticipated. We already have about 180 international students, and I am optimistic about our prospect of extending our impact and increasing our influence around the world. This is a dynamic time in the history of the institution, and I am very proud to play a part. I hope you are as well.
Posted Friday, December 14, 2018