The Appointment Ceremony for JI’s new dean was held at JI on September 19th. Mr. Feng Gu, Director of SJTU Party Organization officiated and announced the appointment of Prof. Peisen Huang as JI’s new dean for a term of three years. Founder Prof.Jun Ni was released of his duty as JI Dean at the same time. Mr. Sixian Jiang, SJTU Party Secretary, attended the ceremony and delivered a historical speech.
On the new dean’s appointment, Prof. Ni pointed out that JI’s development over the past eight years has been impossible without the support and hard work of SJTU, all JI faculty, staff, students, and parents; JI’s future development still faces a lot of challenges; as the first faculty member hired from an American university, Prof. Peisen Huang understands JI better than others and can be trusted with leading JI to a brighter future. Ni said sincerely, “although I am no longer the dean, I am not leaving JI; I will work for JI’s development in other ways.”
In his acceptance address, Dean Huang thanked Ni’s support and help all along. He is honored to be the new dean but realizes it is a great challenge. He has been enjoying working at JI for nearly 8 years. Being able to continue working with the family of colleagues and students is what motivates him to accept this responsibility. He reminded everybody of JI’s challenges and exhorted all to work together and build JI into a world-class university, fulfilling the goals of “Innovation, Internationalization, and Quality.” At the same time, he pleaded for more support of space and resources from SJTU.
Prof. Xinwan Li, JI Party Secretary and Associate Dean for Research, thanked SJTU for the opportunity to help with the critical transition at JI. He promised to continue being the ‘orderly’ for faculty and students, the ‘coordinator’ between JI and SJTU, and the ‘vanguard’ for JI’s research development. He will work with SJTU to help solve any problems JI may face in her development.
Dean Huang bestowing the certificate of Honorary Dean to Prof. Ni
Yuqing Ying, presenting her portrait of Prof. Ni on behalf of all JI students
To show JI’s gratitude to Ni’s contribution, Dean Huang bestowed the certificate of Honorary Dean to Prof. Ni, and Yuqing Ying, a JI alumna and rising artist, presented her portrait of Prof. Ni on behalf of all JI students.
Party Secretary Jiang delivered an important address. On behalf of SJTU Party and Administration, he expressed his deep gratitude to and admiration for Prof. Ni, thanking him for his more than decade of selfless dedication to the collaboration between SJTU and the University of Michigan, especially the past eight years on developing JI and setting up a successful model for Sino-American educational cooperation. Both universities are very serious about appointing the new dean, with search committees from both sides working closely and carefully. Dean Huang was selected as the best candidate and entrusted with the significant duty of developing and improving JI to be a first-class research institute in the world.
On JI’s next phase of development, Jiang promised that SJTU would implement the regulations stipulated in “The UM-SJTU Management Regulations” and grant autonomy to JI for her development needs. He added the future JI building is going to be a historical landmark, therefore SJTU will try to offer the best support and help. Jiang believes that with efforts from various parties, JI will keep improving.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, all attending faculty, staff, students, and parents gave a round of applauses to Dean Huang. They were full of confidence and anticipation. They also showed appreciation and sadness on Prof. Ni’s stepping down.
