The University of Michigan – Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute (UM-SJTU JI, JI hereafter) hosted the Awarding Ceremony of Tang Junyuan Chair Professorship & Inauguration Ceremony of the SJTU Tang Junyuan Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at Long Bin Building on April 3.
In his welcoming speech, SJTU President Kuiling Ding expressed appreciation for the support of the Tang family and welcomed the arrival of its members to the event including SJTU Class of 1950 alumna and Honorary Doctor, Chairman of Su Sih Enterprises Limited Youshuqi Tang, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee member and Chairman of Shanghai Tang Junyuan Education Foundation Henry Tang. With a long-standing and deep connection with SJTU, the Tang family has provided generous donations to support the introduction of high-level talents and innovative talent cultivation of the university. With the support of alumni and various sectors of society, represented by the Tang family, SJTU will move forward with confidence and determination, placing student-centered education, innovation, and national revitalization at the forefront of its mission, to sail towards a brighter future, Ding said.
Xuming Song introduces the Tang Junyuan Chair Professorship.
Henry Tang and Kuiling Ding jointly present the letter of appointment to Chaoping Xing.
According to Xuming Song, deputy director of the SJTU Division of Human Resources, the university has appointed three Tang Junyuan Chair Professors including JI Professor Chien-Pin Chen, Professor Michael J. Ramsey Musolf from the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute and Professor Chaoping Xing from the School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering. During the awarding ceremony, Henry Tang and Kuiling Ding jointly presented the letter of appointment to Chaoping Xing, the third Tang Junyuan Chair Professor.
As the first Tang Junyuan Chair Professor, JI Dean Chien-Pin Chen expressed his gratitude to the Shanghai Tang Junyuan Education Foundation for its important value and outstanding contributions to the recruitment of high-end academic talents, the development of high-level faculty, and the cultivation and motivation of students at JI. He said the Tang Junyuan Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center will become a new platform for scientific innovation and talent cultivation where the students should be able to inherit the entrepreneurial spirit of the older generation of the Tang family, dare to innovate, take responsibility, hold gratitude in their hearts, and strive forward.
Invited guests witness the opening of the Tang Junyuan Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center.
Student representative Nuocheng Ji presents gifts to Youshuqi Tang and Henry Tang.
Cheng Zheng makes a speech as a student representative.
Yanfeng Shen introduces the JI innovation and entrepreneurship education experiences.
The inauguration ceremony was kicked off with an opening video made by JI students. Student representative Nuocheng Ji presented commemorative photos and a 3D printed model of the center to Youshuqi Tang and Henry Tang while another student representative Cheng Zheng expressed his gratitude and respect to the Tang family. JI Assistant to Dean Yanfeng Shen shared the innovation and entrepreneurship education of the joint institute. He said the JI faculty and students will make good use of the Tang Junyuan Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center to cultivate more outstanding talents with innovative spirit.
Henry Tang said the Tang family has deep roots and a long-standing friendship with SJTU. In a year that marks the centenary of the birth of his father Hsiang-chien Tang, the inauguration of the Tang Junyuan Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center has profound significance as it carries the Tang family’s earnest hope for cultivating future technological leaders, he said. Tang also expressed his appreciation and agreement with the role and contribution of SJTU in urban governance research, which involves practical issues in constructing modern cities as well as leading-edge strategic issues in guiding the modernization of cities worldwide. He hoped that the Shanghai Tang Junyuan Education Foundation would be able to contribute to this field in the future.
Former SJTU Chairperson Sixian Jiang, president of the China Institute for Urban Governance, thanked the Tang family for their long-standing support to the university and acknowledged the efforts and innovations of JI in the field of international education during the three-year pandemic period. “I look forward to exploring urban governance research with the Tang family in the future and making greater contributions to society together.”
Shortly after the inauguration ceremony, the attendees were taken to an exhibition of enterprising JI alumni and the scientific and innovative achievements of JI students, showcasing an all-weather, progressive innovation and entrepreneurship education system based on the center.
