On November 21, 2023, the fifth annual meeting of the International Advisory Board (IAB) of Hainan University (HNU) was held at the Multi-function Hall of Siyuan Academy in Haidian campus. The meeting was participated by about 100 online and offline audience. Da Hsuan Feng, Chairman of the IAB; Carter Tseng, Vice Chairman of the IAB; Luo Qingming, President of Hainan University and Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other HNU leadership members and representatives of teachers and students, were present at the meeting. The morning plenary session was chaired by HNU’s vice president Chen Jun, and the afternoon roundtable discussion was presided over by Da Hsuan Feng.
Luo presented a work report to the attending IAB members, highlighting the current development, key achievements made and plans for HNU’s future. He stated that we would keep firm in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping’s instruction of “supporting Hainan University to develop world-class disciplines”, and promote the development of Hainan University, contributing to the continuing improvement of education in Hainan. “We will bring full play to the role of HNU as a participant, think tank, incubator, and reserve force for the building of Hainan Free Trade Port, striving to build itself into a comprehensive research-oriented internationalized ‘double first-class’ university,” Luo added.
Da Hsuan Feng summarized IAB’s work of the past years, elaborating on its efforts in promoting HNU’s development, mobilizing resource of IAB as a think tank, and strengthening multi-dimensional tie between the IAB and HNU. He emphasized that the IAB will further enhance its collaboration with the University, provide targeted advice for the development of key research areas, and expand its platform for more international resource.
The IAB members spoke highly of the university’s recent achievements in their talks about the current development and future plan for the University. Meanwhile, they made a number of proposals of strategic importance with regard to the future planning, recruitment of outstanding academic scholars, talent development, scientific research, and HNU’s efforts to be internationalized.
At the meeting, Da Hsuan Feng, Carter Tseng, and Olivia Ho Cheng presented honorary certificates to students who were awarded the special scholarships from the IAB. Luo, president of Hainan University, issued letters of appointment to the Chairman, Vice Chair, and members of the IAB. Wan Xinyi, Professor from the School of Life and Health Sciences, and Huang Shuheng, Associate Professor from the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, spoke, as representatives of newly recruited teachers, at the meeting.
Before the meeting, the IAB members visited HNU’s Sanya Nanfan Research Institute and the School of Biomedical Engineering in the Yanzhou Bay Science and Education Park, having a general understanding of the overall progress of the Park in promoting the in-depth integration of industry, education and research, and in serving the national strategy.
On the sideline of the meeting, Dr. Erwin Neher, IAB member and Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 1991, gave a lecture entitled “Synaptic Plasticity: Focus on Presynaptic Mechanisms”, and Ms. Olivia Ho Cheng, IAB member and President and CEO of Aurora Healthcare Crop, presented a report entitled “My 30+ year journey being an entrepreneur” to the students and faculty of HNU.
The International Advisory Board of Hainan University was established in January 2019. Currently, the board has 20 internationally renowned experts, scholars, and senior executives, including four Nobel Prize laureates, as its members (including two honorary members). As a consulting body for the University, the IAB has held 5 plenary meetings, where members, with their international perspectives, have proposed a series of opinions and suggestions with strategic guidance for the development of the University. The outcomes of these meetings have been highly appreciated by the Hainan Provincial Government with important instructions made by the Provincial leadership on multiple occasions.
(Editor: Wang Yiqin)
