Doctor Henry Kissinger was awarded the title of an Honorary Professor of Nanjing University by the university’s chancellor and vice chancellor Zhang Yibin and Yang Zhong when they paid him a visit in New York on October 11.
Kissinger said he was very happy to see Chancellor Zhang again and recalled their first meeting ten years ago when he attended the 20th anniversary of the Hopkins-NanjingCenter for Chinese and American Studies and Zhang’s speech was warmly received by faculty and students.
He also recalled his tour to Nanjing’s famous attractions such as the Ming City Wall and Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum.
Nanjing University decided to award Kissinger the title of an Honorary Professor because of his long-term support for the development of the Hopkins-Nanjing center and his great contributions to Sino-US friendship.
Zhang also congratulated Kissinger on the recently established Kissinger Research Center for International Affairs and in addition, expressed his gratitude to Kissinger for his presence at the 20th anniversary of the center.
Kissinger said it was a great honor for him to be given the title of professorship at Nanjing University.
“Recently, president Ronald J. Daniels of Hopkins University and dean Nasr of Hofstra University held a grand opening ceremony for the Kissinger research center and today I feel so happy that Nanjing University conferred honorary professor on me,” said by Kissinger. ”I will continue to make contributions to promoting the mutual understanding between China and US and especially between the young people of the two countries.”
Kissinger also mentioned young people in western countries now hold that universities should stop offering western history courses because of its ignoble history, and he also said that this situation could not possibly happen in China.
Zhang agreed and pointed out that Chinese students are very keen at studying history.
Kissinger remarked that a nation cannot face up to the future if it does not embrace its history.
Kissinger was concerned that today’s American young people excessively rely on the Internet to get knowledge, and to him reading print material is still extremely important.
Zhang said that in his teaching, he may use multimedia to help students understand philosophy concepts; however, reading print material is a good habit for them, and now the university is promoting a program of reading classic literature.
Zhang said that the university will warmly welcome Dr. Kissinger if he can pay a visit again.
Kissinger responded by saying that he will come to Nanjing University if he ever visits China.
