The School of Foreign Studies celebrated its centennial anniversary on October 8, together with more than 700 alumni, 60 representatives of other universities and colleges, 100 current and retired teachers and 300 students.
The ceremony, held in Enling Theater on Xianlin campus, was hosted by Wang Jinghua, secretary of the CPC committee of the school.
The ceremony in Enling Theater (Photo: She Zhijun)
Centennial celebration amid efforts to build up a first-class university
Nanjing University’s chancellor Zhang Yibin spoke first, and he extended his gratitude on behalf of the university to all the guests at the ceremony and gave his greetings and best wishes to the alumni for the support they gave to the growth of the School of Foreign Studies.
As one of the most time-honored disciplines at Nanjing University, Zhang pointed out, the faculty of the School of Foreign Studies enjoys high academic repute both at home and abroad.
For the past hundred years, teachers and students from the school have been gearing their knowledge towards practical use and have been dedicated to promoting international exchange, serving society and serving our motherland, he said.
By inheriting its fine traditions and constantly blazing new trails, the school has been ranked as one of China’s most important foreign languages teaching and research centers.
All over the country, said Zhang, the school has many of its former students who are now playing key roles in diplomacy, cultural exchange, foreign language education, academic research, journalism and publicity, finance and international trade, and other areas, and while doing so, they are also winning great honor for the school and for Nanjing University.
In particular, Zhang pointed out, teachers, students and alumni of the School of Foreign Studies have translated numerous world masterpieces, and this has generated far-reaching impact in academic circles and in society since the flourishing of other areas of humanities and social sciences is closely related to these translated classics and avant-garde works of the world.
Keynote speech by Chancellor Zhang Yibin (Photo: She Zhijun)
The time of harvest is also the time of setting new sail. Zhang hoped that teachers, students and alumni will bear in heart the university motto: Sincerity with Aspiration, Perseverance with Integrity, and that they will continue to make their contributions in the new historic era.
Development fund for the growth in the next 100 years
Ten alumni were invited to the stage along with university president Chen Jun to launch the Development Fund for Foreign Language and Literature Studies.
These ten represented the over 5,000 alumni the School of Foreign Studies had gotten hold of around the world since the beginning of this year by various methods such as alumni maps, class liaisons and WeChat tweet.
Joint Launching of the Development Fund for Foreign Language and Literature Studies (Photo: She Zhijun)
Of the ten alumni, some are active in diplomacy and international affairs such as Sun Yanjuan (French 1958), Qi Dayu (Russian 1982) and Wang Hua (Japanese 1980).
Some of the ten represented the eldest alumni who came for the centennial celebration such as Liu Haiping (English 1962) and Wang Haixiao (English 1978).
One of the ten was Saitou, winner of the Friendship Award of Jiangsu Province who taught at the School of Foreign Studies for over ten years and made a special trip from Japan to come to the celebration.
The alumni also included representatives of the younger generations such as Ding Yue (Korean 2010), now working at Soochow Securities, and Shen Zhikai (Spanish 2005), now working at Jinlijie International Trading Limited in Wuxi.
They also included those who had made contributions to helping out students and faculty for many years, such as Li Junbang (English 1973), a successful private entrepreneur who was among the first batch of board members of Nanjing University, and Li Guofu (German 1980), vice president of New Oriental Education & Technology Group who established Haiguo Foundation, which was geared towards the School of Foreign Studies.
In Particular, Sun Yanjuan (French 1958) made outstanding achievement in China’s projects in assistance to African people for many years. Three generations from her family have members who graduated from Nanjing University.
Before the centennial ceremony, Sun made contact with the alumni association through the help of her grandchild and made a donation of 20,000 yuan in support of the new start of the School of Foreign Studies.
The Development Fund for Foreign Language and Literature Studies is a special fund for education and scientific research established by Nanjing University Education Development Foundation.
The purpose of the special fund is to promote the continued development of the School of Foreign Studies by providing financial support for teaching and scientific research, student cultivation, international exchange and campus culture construction.
Guests give best wishes to the School of Foreign Studies
Prior to the centennial celebration, many foreign studies colleges in the country sent greetings.
Jean Marie Gustave Le Clézio, 2008 Nobel Prize Winner in literature and doctoral supervisor of the School of Foreign Studies, sent a video in congratulation.
In the video, he says that the School of Foreign Studies has made great contributions to promoting cultural exchanges and strengthening China’s friendship with other countries, and that translators and researchers are playing an important role in maintaining the world peace.
Zhang Jian (English 1980), dean of the School of English and International Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University, spoke on behalf of the foreign studies colleges in the country.
Nanjing University, he said, has set a good example for universities nationwide with its fine tradition of teaching and research, the spirit of innovation and advanced practice, and the university’s School of Foreign Studies has a solid academic foundation and has exerted huge impact on universities nationwide.
In particular, he mentioned that Beijing Foreign Studies University has learned from Nanjing University in such aspects as high-end talent cultivation and teaching reform.
Zhang Jian gives a speech. (Photo: She Zhijun)
Liu Xin (English 1993), anchorwoman of the news commentary program “The Point” of China Global Television Network (CGTN), spoke on behalf of the alumni of the School of Foreign Studies.
In 1997, Liu won the championship at the first session of the National English Speaking Contest and at London’s World English Speaking Contest.
Speaking of her own experience, Liu said that she had benefited a lot from the School of Foreign Studies, and Nanjing University has been stamping on students the spirit of “you can” with its love and tolerance.
She believes that in the next 100 years, Nanjing University’s School of Foreign Studies will cultivate more qualified foreign language personnel and show to the nation and the world that “we can.”
Liu Xin gives a speech (Photo: She Zhijun)
Huo Jiewen (French 2014), speaking on behalf of the current students, said that she felt proud of studying at the time-honored School of Foreign Studies and that she was committed to seeking truth, serving the motherland and carrying forward the good tradition and spirit of the school.
Huo Jiewen gives a speech (Photo: She Zhijun)
Wang Shouren, the university’s senior professor of humanities and social sciences, spoke on behalf of the faculty of the School of Foreign Studies.
Foreign studies at Nanjing University, said Wang, started from foreign literature and extended to areas of culture, translation, linguistics and culture exchange on Chinese and foreign literature, and the continued development of the School of Foreign Studies lies in successive efforts and meticulous scholarship of its dedicated faculty generation after generation.
As foreign language studies enter the National List of First-Rate Universities and Disciplines, the School of Foreign Studies faces a new opportunity of development, and the faculty must continue to be committed to the moral education and cultivation of more qualified foreign language personnel and work together with the alumni at home and abroad to build greater bridges between Chinese and western cultures, Wang said.
Wang Shouren gives a speech (Photo: She Zhijun)
Yang Jincai, dean of the School of Foreign Studies, gave in his speech a review of the development of the School of Foreign Studies over the past hundred years, with all its achievements in discipline construction, faculty growth, academic research, personnel cultivation and serving the country.
Yang expressed his gratitude to Nanjing University, other universities and all sectors of society for the help and support they gave to the work of the School of Foreign Studies.
The School of Foreign Studies will make every effort to develop first-rate disciplines, strengthen foreign language studies with Chinese characteristics, promote the faculty’s research and innovation capacity and ability to serve society and support the cultivation of top-notch foreign language personnel, said Yang at the end.
Yang Jincai gives a speech (Photo: She Zhijun)
Also present at the centennial ceremony were Qi Dayu, chancellor of China Foreign Affairs University and former ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Wang Hua, director of Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Jiangsu Province and president of Jiangsu Association for International Friendship, Zhu Chaowei, vice president of Sichuan International Studies University, Yu Hongliang, vice president of Yangzhou University, Zhu Qingbao, vice chancellor of Nanjing University, Yu Shaoyi, former vice president of Nanjing University, Wang Mingsheng, member of the CPC standing committee and head of the CPC publicity department of Nanjing University, and Lu Zhenkang, former member of the CPC committee of Nanjing University.
The ceremony (Photo: She Zhijun)
The ceremony (Photo: She Zhijun)
Wang Jinghua presides over the ceremony (Photo: She Zhijun)
As an important part of the ceremony, a series of forums and informal meetings were held in the afternoon of October 8 on ideas of the school’s and the discipline’s future development, including meetings of the English Department, Russian Department, German Department, French Department, Spanish Department, Japanese Department and Korean Department.
Alumni (Photo: She Zhijun)
