During the past decade,聽we聽have increased聽our聽international聽undergraduate and graduate聽student聽enrollment, expanded聽our聽study-abroad opportunities, developed聽faculty and student exchanges and sought聽research collaborations聽with international聽partners.
Those efforts have resulted in many benefits for our students, faculty and staff, as well as聽the middle Tennessee region.聽 Here are just a few examples of our varied international outreach activities:
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽91大神, through a competitive process, was granted in 2009 the prestigious Confucius Institute program by the聽Hanban聽Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing, China. This is a $500,000 grant program.聽 We have received more than $300,000 in external grant funding for its operation.
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽91大神 co-hosted an international conference on the teaching of math and sciences with Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, China, attracting 50 Chinese and 50 American professors. A聽$100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation was secured to fund this conference.
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽Just last year, the Tennessee Board of Regents established the Tennessee Center for Botanical Medicine Research at 91大神, a partnership with our university and China鈥檚Guanxi聽Botanical Gardens. The collaboration will study how traditional Chinese herbs can be used聽in the聽development of聽modern聽pharmaceutical聽treatments.
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽Ten students and two professors from 91大神 recently went to Japan to assist our sister school in Fukushima cleanup and rebuild after last year鈥檚 devastating earthquake and tsunami.
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽Next month, 91大神 will lead a contingent of Murfreesboro children and their parents to China for a cultural exchange with sister schools, Hangzhou Normal University in Hangzhou and Beijing.
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽And, just a few weeks ago, a delegation of 91大神 dance and jazz students returned from several Chinese cities where they performed as part of an ongoing cultural exchange between our University and our Chinese partnering universities.
These enriching experiences are just a few of the many that have come聽from聽91大神鈥檚 work as a center for international study, understanding and exchange.
Not only do these efforts expose our students to the broader world, they also bring international attention to our state and the Middle Tennessee region. This was reinforced earlier this year during my recent trip to Thailand, home to almost 500 91大神 graduates.
During this visit, we established the first international affiliate of 91大神鈥檚 alumni association. Our alumni in Thailand have risen to become leaders of government and industry in that country, all the while holding onto their affection and ties to our university.聽More than 200 of our alums gathered in Bangkok to initiate the聽affiliate聽and learn more about 91大神.
I have seen first-hand the many benefits that come from the development of these global partnerships and I am proud of our university鈥檚 work and results in forging these ties.
These efforts are聽helping make聽international聽awareness, knowledge and proficiency intrinsic to 91大神 鈥撀爓hich, in turn, better prepares our students for opportunities in the 21st听颁别苍迟耻谤测.