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• “They are eager to tell stories about their experiences at UB and what for them was a very wonderful period in their lives.”

  Stephen C. Dunnett

  Vice Provost for International Education

By ANN WHITCHER-GENTZKE

Published: April 19, 2012

Pride among Chinese alumni was much in evidence during President Satish K. Tripathi’s trip to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in late March and early April.

Tripathi and members of a campus delegation visited academic exchange partners in Beijing, hosted receptions for Chinese alumni from several eras in both Beijing and Hong Kong, and talked about UB’s new buildings and other key campus developments during a range of formal and informal forums throughout the tour.

The trip overall, Tripathi noted, was “remarkably successful and thoroughly enjoyable.”

“Our university’s longstanding friendship with our academic partners in China, and the historic agreement that made this friendship possible, are a model of the opportunities for global collaboration that are created by such educational partnerships,” he said.

The trip also brought a new agreement for a comprehensive educational program with Renmin University in Beijing. “This is a university that our School of Management collaborated with many years ago,” explained Stephen C. Dunnett, vice provost for international education and a delegation member. The exchange program, in effect next year, will allow UB students to study at Renmin University and vice versa, obtaining two MBAs, one from each school, if they choose a two-semester exchange option. Also available is a one-semester exchange that does not grant the two degrees.

“This new agreement broadens the portfolio of exchange possibilities for UB students in China,” Dunnett said. “It allows our students to have internships in China at companies if they would like to. That’s very attractive to our students because it helps enhance their employability if they have that kind of experience.”

Renewing the agreement with Renmin University “allows us to celebrate a glorious historical association and take our partnership into the 21st century,” added Arjang Assad, dean of the School of Management, who was also part of the delegation traveling to China. “We’ll be able to embark on new initiatives and offer students exchange opportunities with one of China’s top business schools.”

In Beijing, Tripathi and the delegation visited all three of UB’s longstanding exchange partners: Capital Normal University, Beijing University of Technology and Capital Medical University. The largest group of UB alumni in China holds degrees in management or engineering, so the presence of both Assad and Rajan Batta, interim dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), helped strengthen ties with new and continuing academic partners, as did Tripathi’s introduction, Dunnett explained.

Beijing also was the site of a March 26 reception for alumni based in the region. David A. Draper, special assistant to the president for development, said the decision was made to merge Tripathi’s first international trip as president with the UB 2020 Presidential Alumni Tour. Tripathi is traveling to 20 cities over a 20-month period, and Beijing and Hong Kong were added as tour stops befitting UB’s international reach. More than 150 people attended the Beijing reception.

“The alumni we met are looking to stay engaged with the university,” said Draper, who was making his first trip abroad. “They were very encouraged to hear that of our 5,000 international students now enrolled in graduate and undergraduate programs, the largest percentage—nearly 1,100 UB students—are from China.”

Indeed, pride in their UB degrees was a continuous theme in conversations Dunnett and Draper had with alumni at both the Beijing and Hong Kong receptions. “I was struck by how pleased and excited the alumni were,” Dunnett said, noting that alumni in attendance ranged from participants in UB’s first exchanges with China more than 30 years ago to those who returned to China only recently. “There were both senior people and young people who were quite thrilled to meet older UB graduates, many of whom are extremely successful.

“They are eager to tell stories about their experiences at UB and what for them was a very wonderful period in their lives,” he said. “And so many of them are now sending their children, even their grandchildren to UB—this represents ‘the ultimate trust,’ as President Tripathi pointed out in his remarks that evening.”

Tripathi called the connections made with these alumni “a tremendous source of strength and pride” for UB.

“I was deeply impressed by the achievements, contributions and commitment of the alumni we met in Beijing and Hong Kong—and above all, by their deep connection to their alma mater,” he said. “The alumni I spoke with were all highly knowledgeable—and very passionate—about the latest progress taking place at UB and in Buffalo. It’s clear that they maintain a strong and active interest in the momentum building here, and want to be a part of it.

“I came back from these events tremendously inspired and energized by the UB pride that is alive and well among our alumni overseas.”

The delegation moved on to Shanghai, where members visited Fudan University and its state-of-the-art hospital. Also part of the delegation was Richard V. Lee, professor of medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, who has long been involved in international medical exchanges and is well-known and respected among his Chinese counterparts, Dunnett said. The university is exploring the possibility of sending UB medical students to Fudan University.

Another valuable member of the delegation was Joseph Hindrawan, associate vice provost for international education. Fluent in Mandarin and an expert on Chinese culture, Hindrawan played a key role during all the events, serving as the interpreter for Tripathi and other members of the delegation, Dunnett said.

In Shanghai, Dunnett met with Michael Tunkey, a UB graduate (BPS ’00), who has overall responsibility for Cannon Design’s activities in China; and his wife, Elaine Chow, also a UB graduate (BPS ’98), while Batta visited the LED factory of alumnus Richard Chang. Batta called this visit “a key highlight,” adding, “The trip to China was a wonderful opportunity to link with prominent SEAS alumni and also for SEAS to work toward establishing new educational relationships with two key academic partners: Capital Normal University and Beijing University of Technology.”

In Hong Kong on April 2, the UB group hosted a reception at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where participants were treated to a dinner at a student-run restaurant at the university’s world-renowned School of Hotel and Tourism Management. While in Hong Kong, the UB delegation discussed the possibility of an eventual exchange with Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Dunnett added that Kamlesh Tripathi, the president’s wife, was “the consummate hostess” and “a real hit,” who made the trip even more successful. “So many of the alumni asked, ‘Can I write to her?’ We were all tired, but it never showed in her face. She stood there and chatted with them as long as they wished.”

For more information on the UB 2020 Presidential Alumni Tour, visit the tour’s website.