2008 U-M Delegation Visit to China and Hong Kong a Great Success!
Events in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing draw record crowd

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U-M alumni and friends cheered former U-M head football coach Lloyd Carr in record-breaking numbers during U-M alumni meetings in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing in late May and early June.

At the suggestion of U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, whose 2005 visit to China inaugurated this now-annual series, organizers invited Carr to speak on the universality of sports and the value of athletic competition in honor of the Beijing Olympics. His talk was expected to be quite a departure from the political, social and educational subjects of prior years. Though the context for his remarks was American football, his thoughtful observations about what it takes to grow and contribute as a member of a successful team were as cogent as those of previous speakers.

Carr explained that he never wanted to be anywhere but Ann Arbor and that his career had provided a unique opportunity to influence hundreds of student-athletes at one of the finest institutions in the world. He urged alumni to find what it is that they might still do to support their University, including letting him know of any potential football recruits in China.

Carr was preceded in the program by Jerry May, vice president for development, and Rich Rogel, ’70, chairman of the Michigan Difference Campaign. It was the first trip to China for May, who represented President Coleman and U-M’s executive officers. He announced that U-M has surpassed the current campaign’s goal of $2.4 billion in advance of its conclusion this fall.

During the trip, he and Jefferson Porter, associate vice president for development, held more than 20 private meetings with alumni about donor opportunities at U-M. He reports that they learned a lot from these discussions and are encouraged about alumni interest in financial support to U-M. Rogel not only participated in many of these meetings but also spoke to audiences about the great students who could not have enrolled at U-M without financial support from alumni. Rogel, who May pointed out has helped many U-M students himself, has a passion for students and for China that was evident at every stop. Rogel is a frequent visitor to the country and has a Chinese family that now includes a 3-year-old granddaughter.

Steve Grafton, president and CEO of the Alumni Association, emceed all the events and told audiences that they are responding so faithfully and with such enthusiasm that he feels like he is greeting old friends when he visits China. He urged the audiences to stay loyal and look for ways to help each other and the University and to become active with their local alumni groups. He also managed the lucky draw at each event, which featured a grand prize of a football autographed by Carr and Rich Rodriguez, the new U-M head football coach.

The Hong Kong Student Association turned out to staff the Hong Kong event. The staff of the U-M Ross Business School Executive Education Program, under the direction of John Chang, also was a great support. Fred Lui, ’79, sponsored the event at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The event is growing; more than 150 participated this year.

Paul Liu, ’83, opened the doors of1933, the dazzling Shanghai property in the Hongkou area that his team is redeveloping, Soaring ceilings, glass floors and an event set up in the round with catering by Shanghai’s finest chefs created a sparkling event for nearly 200 alumni. Students from the UM-SJTU Joint Institute showed up en masse and encircled Carr after the program. Professor Hengming Zhou, PhD’99, of SJTU brought a contingent of his students who, working with Yifan Tang, MBA’96, staffed the event.

The Beijing American Club was pushed to capacity as it hosted nearly 300 alumni and friends at the Beijing meeting, staffed by members of the UM-Peking University Joint Institute under the direction of Julia Fang and U-M Professor James Lee. A number of surprise and special guests attended this event, including China’s Minister of Education, the pingpong champion who led the famous 1972 China delegation to the US and U-M Professor Ken Lieberthal, who is a world-renowned China expert. The audience was further delighted—and then mesmerized—by the performance of Xiang Gao, ’96, MMUS’97, a rising international violin virtuoso. After performing, Gao clutched the U-M flag to his chest as he bowed his thanks to the standing and cheering audience.

The U-M delegation traveled onto Bangkok for an alumni reception heralding the revitalized Thailand Alumni Association. Nearly 250 alumni came together for an event jointly organized by local alumni, the AAUM and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies and funded by corporations, U-M and local alumni. The deputy prime minister of Thailand conveyed best wishes via phone from Rome. Program speakers included the deputy principal private secretary (who is the immediate past Thai ambassador to the US), the US ambassador to Thailand, a deputy acting director general of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Steve Grafton and Jerry May. The final speaker was the former Thai deputy prime minister and minister of finance, Amnuay Viravan, MBA'54, MA'57, PhD'59, HLLD'90. Viravan challenged alumni to create a $1 million endowment for Thai Studies at U-M within three years and pledged $200,000 to begin the campaign.

Keynote speaker Lloyd Carr, U-M head football coach from 1995-2008 E-Mail: lhcarr@umich.edu Phone: 734.763.7131 Address: Athletics, 1000 S. State, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Steve Grafton, President and Chief Executive Officer, Alumni Association of the University of Michigan E-Mail: sgrafton@umich.edu Phone: 800.847.4764 Address: Alumni Association, 200 Fletcher Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

S. Jack Hu, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Michigan E-Mail: jackhu@umich.edu Phone: 734.764.7030 Address: Research and Graduate Education, 2408 LEC, Ann Arbor, MI 48105

Jerry May, Vice President for Development, University of Michigan E-Mail: jamay@umich.edu Phone: 734.647.6000 Address: Office of Development, 9000 Wolverine Tower, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Richard Rogel, Chairman, the Michigan Difference Campaign

Jefferson Porter, Associate Vice President for Development E-Mail: jkporter@umich.edu Phone: 734.764.6000 Address: Office of Development, 9000 Wolverine Tower, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Jo Rumsey , Vice President of the Alumni Association E-Mail: jorumsey@umich.edu Phone: 800.847.4764 Address: Alumni Association, 200 Fletcher Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

The events are jointly hosted by the Office of the U-M President and the Alumni Association of the U-M, which have made a several year commitment to establish this opportunity for alumni to have a framework for contributing to on-going alumni engagement in China.

They are not possible without the assistance of local alumni, including the leaders listed below.

• Hong Kong: Fred Lui at flclui@hkstar.com
• Shanghai: Hengming Zou at zou-hm@cx.sjtu.edu.cn and Yifan Tang at yifan@cfigroup.com.cn
• Beijing: Sean Zhang at sean@heng-zhun.com, Julius Li at Julius-li@autekbio.com, Julia Feng at julizfeng@michigan.ccast.ac.cn.

These local alumni welcome hearing from others who will join together to build the program further.