November 2007

Welcome to e-TrueBlue: China, brought to you by the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan. Our goal is to provide you a regular communication to update you on our efforts to build a global program that benefits the University and its faculty, students and alumni.

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Michigan News

Chinese ambassador speaks at U-M

Mr. Zhou Wenzhong, ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United States, visited the state of Michigan and the University of Michigan November 12-13 as part of LSA’s ChinaNow theme year. “China’s Peaceful Development and U.S.–China Relations” was the title of his presentation to a packed house at the Rackham School of Graduate Studies. The talk was open to the public and was sponsored by the U-M offices of the President and VP for Government Relations, the William Davidson Institute, the U-M Association of Chinese Professors, the Center for Chinese Studies and the Alumni Association.

Zhou spoke for 30 minutes and then took questions for another 30 minutes. His visit also included a breakfast discussion with 20 U-M students and Professor Kenneth Lieberthal of the Ross School of Business and meetings with Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, U-M President Mary Sue Coleman and CEO of Ford Motor Co. Allan Mullaly, as well as an address to the Detroit Economic Club. Read more about Ambassador Zhou’s talk in the Ann Arbor News.

Dragon boat festival a hit

On September 30, more than 5,000 students, alumni, Ann Arbor residents and families from southeast Michigan came together for the first-ever dragon boat festival in a celebration of Chinese culture unprecedented in U-M’s history. A focal point of the day were the dragon boat races. With crowds cheering from along the Huron River bank, 20 teams with 20 paddlers each competed throughout the day.

The competitive grand finale had the audience chanting in support for every heat. In the end, the teams representing the College of Engineering, the International Institute students and the Chinese community placed first, second and third, respectively. The Office of the President and Alumni Association dragon boat placed seventh with heroic paddling from Professor James Lee of the Center for Chinese Studies; Professor James Penner-Hahn of Chemistry; Professor Twila Tardif of Psychology; Professor Bright Sheng of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance; Erika Hrabec and Gary Krenz from President Coleman’s staff; and Jo Rumsey from the Alumni Association, among others.

View photos from the dragon boat festival through the end of November at the Center for Chinese Studies Web site.

U-M architect re-imagines podium

Mary-Ann Ray has an office in Los Angeles, but as a new clinical professor of architecture in the U-M Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, she commutes to Ann Arbor one semester each year to teach a studio and a seminar. Her studio is a rethinking of the podium, impersonal several-story fortresses that contain parking, shopping, living spaces and more. “The Hong Kong Council of Social Services reports that the podium has…produced a loss of identity and feeling of insecurity,” says Ray.

In her class, students are finding “ways to re-envision it formally and programmatically and even socially.” Students are studying the evolution of the Caochangdi Village in Beijing and the larger context of conditions in China. They work in teams, each trying to figure out strategies to program a podium and provide housing or social programs for the unacknowledged people within it.

Alumni Association News

AAUM hosts welcome dinner for Chinese students

Liang Zhang, president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, and Grace Suen, president of the Hong Kong Student Association, joined AAUM President and CEO Steve Grafton on October 20 to greet more than 120 new students from China and Hong Kong at AAUM’s second annual welcome event.

The event was created after Grafton promised students he met in China in 2006 that he would help new students get acquainted with each other and learn what it will mean to be U-M alumni one day. At the request of the student leaders, AAUM hosted a dinner rather than a lunch to allow more students to come together at once and also to stay longer. The meal was once again catered by TK Wu, which students report has the best Chinese food in Ann Arbor.

iTunes gift cards and merchant discount card giveaways added to the festivity, and all participating students are now receiving e-TrueBlue: China. AAUM staff created a DVD of photos from President Coleman’s alumni-student reception in 2005 and the subsequent University visits in 2006 and 2007. The DVD can be viewed online now. Photos from the evening are also available online.

Stay connected with our online community

inCircle, the Alumni Association's online directory and networking community for U-M alumni and students, is growing. Use inCircle to connect with old friends, find people who share your interests, find a job or create a group for U-M alumni who live and work in your region of the world. All you need to get started are a uniqname and password. Don't have a uniqname? You can register for one online.

Update your University record

The Alumni Association is committed to keeping you informed about our efforts to build a global alumni program. We are better able to meet this goal if your contact information with the University is updated. More than 500 alumni from China and Hong Kong have already updated their records. You can update yours online at http://alumni.umich.edu/china/AAUMChinaRec.php

Projects and Partnerships

Medical school plans partnerships

In conjunction with a celebration of its 90th anniversary, Peking Union Medical College invited James Woolliscroft, dean of the U-M Medical School, to speak about medical education in the United States. U-M has had a longstanding relationship with PUMC. “The China Medical Board made it possible for faculty members to visit U-M to learn techniques of teaching medicine, and faculty from U-M have gone there," says Woolliscroft.

Plans are in the works to develop an exchange program for medical and doctoral students, too. "We've had a few groups go over there, and it was a phenomenal experience for them," says Woolliscroft, who plans to return to China this winter to discuss possibilities. When students are immersed in a health care culture different from their own, they can compare and contrast alternate approaches to handling disease and study conditions that may not arise in their own countries.

Anyone interested in providing a stipend to sponsor student travel or who can provide housing for U-M students studying in Beijing should contact BJ Bess at bjbess@umich.edu to explore opportunities.

Michigan-led team sets medical education standards

In collaboration with the China Medical Board and the Ministries of Health and Education, Dr. David T. Stern, U-M associate professor of internal medicine and medical education, chaired an international task force that developed 60 essential standards for medical education. Stein’s 14-member team evaluated dimensions that included professional ethics, scientific foundations, communication skills and clinical skills.

Graduating students at eight leading medical schools in China took a series of exams to see if they met these international standards. "Professor Stern, whose brilliance, zest for creativity, patience and infectious enthusiasm inspired us all, was an unexpected discovery," said Dr. Roy Schwarz, president of the China Medical Board of New York. "Without his leadership in the evaluation effort, the project would never have reached its full potential." For more information, visit http://www.iime.org/project.htm.

Dentistry partners with Chinese schools

Last summer, three department chairs and the dean of the U-M School of Dentistry visited China to explore possible research and teaching collaborations at Shanghai Jiaotong University, the 9th Hospital Peking University School of Stomatology, Tianjin Medical University School of Stomatology, Xi’an Jiaotong University School of Stomatology and the 4th Military Medical University, Xi’an.

Dean Peter J. Polverini says the two-week trip resulted from efforts of Dr. Cun-Yu Wang, a former U-M faculty member who is a highly regarded graduate of Nanjing Medical University in Stomatology, with a DDS in oral medicine from PKU. Polverini arranged for Dr. Min Zou, chair of orthodontics at Xi'an Jiatong University, to see how U-M operates its specialty programs; she is in Ann Arbor now and will stay for about three months. “Right now, they have an apprenticeship program,” says Polverini. “They want to develop curriculum.”

There are talks under way for a doctoral student in orthodontics from U-M to go to Shanghai Medical University to work with a mentor; for Chinese faculty to come to Ann Arbor for long weekends to study new technology, such as dental implants; and for U-M professors to go to PKU, Shanghai and Nanjing to teach faculty and students.

Student Spotlight

Meet Wenyan Ji

After graduating from the Beijing University of Technology in 2006, Wenyan Ji, known in Ann Arbor as Grace, began studying architecture at the U-M Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. She expected great things from this university—and U-M did not disappoint. Having wonderful teachers is part of what makes the Michigan experience so meaningful. Read what she has to say about Professors Chaffers and Malcolm, about what makes the study of architecture so interesting and about the internship she had over spring break.

Alumni Spotlight

Meet Jeffery Z. Li

Jeffery Z. Li, a general partner at ESP Equity Partners LLC, has worked in the health care field all his life, with enormous success. His Michigan MBA enabled him to switch from research to business and start two companies—one in the United States, the other in Beijing. Read more online about Dr. Li, who also serves on the Ross School of Business alumni board of directors.

Club News and Events

Local events/contacts

• The Hong Kong Alumni Club invites alumni to bimonthly luncheons at which the young alumni group announces additional upcoming events. For information about upcoming dates, contact umalumni.hkluncheon@gmail.com.
• Ross Business School alumni host monthly happy hours in Shanghai, and all are invited. For more information, visit http://www.shmba.org/.
• For additional alumni contacts in China, please feel welcome to call upon alumni listed at http://alumni.umich.edu/china/contacts.php.

Did You Know?

Facts about Chinese students

• China sent no students to the United States from the 1950s until 1979.
• In the 1980s, numbers of students from China grew dramatically and in 1988-89 China displaced Taiwan as the leading sender.
• China was the leading country of origin from 1988-89 until it was displaced by Japan in 1994-95.
• In 1998-99 China overtook Japan as the leading sender and remained so until 2001-02. Since then it has been second only to India in the number of students it sends to the United States.
• Numbers of Hong Kong students in the United States increased significantly throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. The number of Hong Kong students peaked at 14,000 in 1992-93 and then generally declined, although there was a 9.3 percent increase in 2005-06.
• In the academic year 2006-07, 67,723 students from China studied in the United States, an increase of 8.2 percent over the prior year.
• Students from mainland China study more at the graduate level (70.8 percent) than the undergraduate level (14.7 percent). Students from Hong Kong study mainly at the undergraduate level (66.7 percent) than the graduate level (20.6 percent).

Source: Open Doors 2007 data from the Institute of International Education, released November 12, 2007

As the Chinese Relations program continues to evolve, our goal is to update you on our efforts to build a global program that benefits the University and its faculty and students. If you would like to be on the permanent eTrueBlue: China mailing list, please send an email request to cjspiess@umich.edu.

If you prefer not to receive the enewsletter, please send an email to mailto:MAlumni@umich.edu?subject=REMOVE ETRUEBLUE CHINA with a subject of REMOVE ETRUEBLUE CHINA. If you would prefer to receive the text-only version of this newsletter, send email to mailto:MAlumni@umich.edu?subject=text-only eTB China.

Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, 200 Fletcher St., Ann Arbor, MI, 734.764.0384, 800.847.4764, malumni@umich.edu