Stanford's interactions with modern China date back almost 40 years. In 1974, President Richard Lyman joined other university presidents as the first official academic visitors to China in more than 25 years. A series of visits by Stanford scientists followed, including a visit in 1976 by head of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Wolfgang Panofsky to both Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University. In 1978, Stanford and the Chinese Academy of Sciences established what is believed to be the first official Chinese-U.S. exchange program. In 1982, Min Weifang, who had worked in a coal mine during the Cultural Revolution, completed his bachelor's degree in China and left to study at Stanford. He earned master's degrees in education ('84) and sociology ('86) and a Ph.D. in education ('87), then returned to China, joining the faculty of PKU.
From the early 1980s to the present, China grew as a major economic power and began to open its doors—both for U.S. scholars to visit and for Chinese students to study in the United States. At Stanford, the enrollment of students from China grew from a handful to just under 1,000 in 2011, making China the best-represented foreign country on our campus. Recognizing China's growing importance, Stanford in 2002 began exploring the idea of establishing an undergraduate overseas studies center there. Professor Min had recently been appointed party secretary and executive vice-president at PKU, and he became a key partner in developing the program, which opened in 2004.
Now our relationship with China and our partnership with PKU has taken another step forward. The Stanford Center at Peking University (SCPKU) has officially opened its doors, and Stanford has become the first U.S. university to construct a building for its use on the campus of a major Chinese university. Funded through The Stanford Challenge as part of our International Initiative, the SCPKU received strong support from both sides of the Pacific, through the efforts of Professor Min and other leaders at PKU and in the Chinese Education Ministry, and Stanford Professor Jean Oi, who played a key role in developing these projects for more than a decade.
The SCPKU is housed in the new Lee Jung Sen Building, named for the PKU alumnus and father of Chien Lee, '75, MS '75, MBA '79, a former Stanford trustee. The 30,000-square-foot facility, located in a historic part of the Peking University campus on the grounds of a former imperial palace, was designed to underscore the collaboration between cultures. Aboveground it appears to be a traditional Chinese building; belowground are two stories of 21st-century classrooms, offices and meeting spaces.
Over the decades, Stanford's partnerships and research programs involving China have grown substantially, including a number of collaborations with two of the leading universities—PKU and Tsinghua—both located in the same section of Beijing. The new SCPKU will serve as a hub for students and faculty conducting research in the region, as well as programs throughout the University, including the Asian Liver Center, the Center for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness, the Rural Education Action Project, the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, and faculty-led collaborations and exchanges in both the Business and Engineering schools. It also will serve as the home of the Bing Overseas Study Program in Beijing.
I believe that universities must step up and take the lead in addressing challenges and educating the next generation of leaders. The SCPKU—and the opportunity it offers to strengthen connections with China and its leading universities—will help us carry on this important work.
John Hennessy was the president of Stanford University.
