UW-Madison chancellor returning to Greater China

University of Wisconsin–Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin is leading a delegation of UW–Madison faculty and staff to Greater China, with stops in Beijing, Hong Kong and Taipei.

The return visit, which begins later today, Monday, Nov. 1, follows Martin’s successful spring trip to Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Enhancing academic collaborations and raising the university’s public profile in Asia continue to be major goals, but the upcoming trip has a special emphasis on economic development.

“I’m excited to be able to advance some of the important initiatives we began this spring in Beijing and build upon friendships in Hong Kong and Taipei,” Martin says. “Greater China has been home to some of UW’s strongest supporters, so the trip is a great opportunity to meet with them.”

The November trip has several major events scheduled in each city. In Beijing, Martin will meet with Chinese Vice Minister of Education Hao Ping and several major Wisconsin corporations doing business in China, while also addressing the Beijing Forum.

The forum is an annual gathering of international leaders in the studies of humanities and social sciences with principle theme of harmony of civilizations and prosperity for all. Martin’s speech is titled “Private Support and the Public Good” and addresses the complex funding pressures facing American public research universities.

She will also visit Beijing Sport University to provide an update on the Chinese Olympians studying in Madison. In Hong Kong, she will meet with UW–Madison alumni and visit the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, along with Hong Kong Baptist University.

Martin’s first visit to Taipei also includes several high-level meetings, including an audience with Vice President Vincent Siew and a presentation to the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei discussing the “Role of Higher Education in Regional Higher Development,” to be attended by academic and business leaders.

She will also receive a major artistic gift of 30 35mm prints of Taiwanese feature films, which will tour the U.S. and eventually be shown at the Wisconsin Film Festival and reside at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research. She will visit several of Taiwan’s oldest and most prestigious institutions, including National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University and National Taiwan Normal University.

In addition to outreach to the Chinese people and media, Martin hopes to keep the campus community updated on the progress trip via her Facebook and Twitter accounts, along with a Twitter account specially focusing on the trip, @UWChina

Martin will conduct a streaming live Cisco TelePresence between Beijing and a class being held in Madison on Friday, Nov. 5.

Other members of Martin’s delegation include administrators Gilles Bousquet, vice provost for globalization and dean of the Division of International Studies; Paul Peercy, dean of the College of Engineering; Sandy Wilcox, president emeritus of the University of Wisconsin Foundation; and Paula Bonner, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Alumni Association.

Faculty participants include Nicole Huang, director of the Center for East Asian Studies and professor of East Asian Languages and Literature, and Francois Ortalo-Magne, director of the Global Real Estate Masters Program and a professor of real estate in the Wisconsin School of Business.

Staff participants include Becci Menghini, Martin’s chief of staff; Kim Santiago, director of international alumni relations for the Wisconsin Alumni Association; and Liya Rong, special assistant to the chancellor in China.