Trustees Vice President Yutaka Iriguchi and Vice President Masato Nakanishi visited Tianjin University, China’s oldest university in the modern age, on March 15 to discuss academic exchanges.
Tianjin University was founded in October 1895 as Peiyang University. The Chinese government has designated Tianjin University as a key national university and prioritized funding for it as an authoritative university. The university is located in the center of Tianjin, the city with the fifth largest economy in China after Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Tianjin University has about 30,000 students, about 5,000 faculty and staff members, and about 2,700 exchange students from 130 countries.
The two vice presidents and Fumiri Deno, special assistant professor of art education who studied at Tianjin University Wang Xuezhong Art Research Institute, were received by eight representatives of Tianjin University, including Vice President of International Affairs, Wenping Hu, School of International Education Secretary, Li Wei, and Deputy Commissioner for the Office of International Cooperation, Chunyan Zhung. They finalized an academic exchange agreement for faculty and students not only in the areas of art and calligraphy, which OKU had been considering, but also in a wide range of fields including music, physical education and science.
Trustee and Vice President Iriguchi commented, “It’s fantastic that our university has been able to establish ties with Tianjin University, a renowned university in China. The faculty is very open to Japan and eager to share their outstanding abilities. The university actively accepts foreign researchers and students, and I think it’s an excellent spot for short or long-term study abroad by OKU students.”