The University of Michigan (UM) – Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) Partnership Board held its 24th meeting on January 12 via simultaneous videoconference in China and the United States. Board members from the two universities attended the meeting co-presided by SJTU President Zhongqin Lin and UM Provost Laurie McCauley.

    During the meeting, board members of the two universities approved the appointment of Chien-Pin Chen as Interim Dean of the UM-SJTU Joint Institute (JI hereafter). Both parties also approved faculty appointments of Shane Johnson, Yunlong Guo and Hong Zhu as associate professors with tenure, as well as professorship appointments of David Hung as John Wu and Jane Sun Chair Professor, Yanfeng Shen and Chong Han as John Wu and Jane Sun Chair Junior Professors.

    Chien-Pin Chen updated the board members the latest developments and achievements of JI in a progress report featuring talent developments, international programs, faculty and staff, graduate placement, alumni, scholarship support and financial status. On student recruitment, JI witnessed higher quantity and quality of new students from home and abroad. On International programs, the Study Away Opportunity Program with Nanyang Technological University in Singapore was organized for international students while the Dual-Bachelor-Degree programs and Global Degree Pathway programs were operated steadily. On graduate placement, 93% of the Class of 2022 graduates chose to pursue further education, while those who joined the job market were mostly employed by leading enterprises or multi-national companies. Achievements of JI also include the first prize of SJTU Teaching and Education Award for Teaching Professor Horst Hohberger, continuous increase of funded research projects for 3 consecutive years with the number NSFC projects setting historical high in 2022 to reach 21. The JI alumni have been well-recognized by the market. Quite a number of alumni became faculty members of renowned domestic or overseas universities. Many were put on influential lists such as “X·36Under36”S Young Entrepreneurs, Fortune’s 84 China’s Most Influential Startup Companies.

    Laurie McCauley and Zhongqin Lin delivered closing remarks for the meeting. While expressing affirmation of recent JI achievements and appreciation for the great contributions by leadership teams of the two universities, McCauley said she was excited to see new opportunities continuing to open up between the two universities while the partnership is expected to remain strong and grow.

    Lin said the vigorous development of JI is inseparable from the leadership of the Partnership Board, the mutual trust and close cooperation between the two universities. Look forward, it is hoped that the two universities can work together to help JI to achieve high-quality and rapid developments, to play exemplary and leading roles in the world, and to foster more excellent talents.

Editor on Duty：Diwei Chen

Responsible Editor：Qianqian Jiang