TMCnet News
Stanford Humanities & Sciences Dean Visits NCKURichard Saller, the Vernon R. and Lysbeth Warren Anderson Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University, visited National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, recently, to better understand the higher education in Taiwan. Saller said, "Twenty years ago I knew nothing about universities on the other side of Pacific. And I've been very interested to see how strong they are, how quickly they've been developing." "My PhD came from Cambridge. So an eight-hundred-year-old university has a lot more tradition to build on but I think the changes with the university in the collaborations made this a special moment in human history," according to Saller. NCKU President Huey-Jen Jenny Su extended a warm welcome on May 28 when Saller arrived at NCKU with a delegation of Stanford Alumni Association. Su said, "We're honored to invite you to visit our univesity, not only because your interest in ancient history but because this campus does exemplify some of the very unique attributes of Taiwan." She also said, "We're historically I think by any essence to be an engineering-based university for many decades, and we did very hard and there's very visible transformation, at least we did in the university after the addition of medical center. At the very beginning we identified ourselves to have a focus on medical humanity." Introducing some of NCKU's research strengths, Su pointed out that NCKU Research Center of Orchid has been devoted to orchid research for years and will cooperate with city government to help local orchid industry find its niche in European markets, and commercializing orchid products in the Czech Republic will be the first step. Su and Saller accompanied by NCKU faculty members visited NCKU Museum and then took a walk at the beautiful Banyan Garden where the biggest banyan tree is believed to have been planted by Emperor Hirohito of Japan over a century ago. To gain deeper understanding of the historical heritage of the university and the city, Saller toured the Small East Gate remains on campus and got an overview of some of historical monuments in Tainan City including Julius Mannich & Co, Tainan, Fort Zeelandia, Fort Provintia, State Temple of the Martial God, and Grand Matsu Temple.
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